Way Back When
by musicforlife101
Summary: AU. What if Mulder and Scully were neighbors when Samantha was abducted. Middle and high school. Some anachronisms. guest starring, reyes, doggett, skinner, kersh, bill, charlie, melissa. MSR, DRR. Scully family. T for later chapters. NEW CH 5!
1. Another Move, Another First Day

**Ok so I just randomly thought of this story. I had been thinking about The X Files recently because someone I know looks kinda like Gillian Anderson. She is taller and built a little differently but still. Her and my mom were talking and she just had this expression on her face that made me realize it. And that got me thinking and then I had this idea. I read a story here that sort of inspired me, but I can't find it again. I procrastinated in writing this down, as usual.**

**Disclaimer: The X Files don't belong to me, sadly. So please don't sue me, I have no money, except that which I am saving up to buy the boxed set of the X Files, so the owners pretty much get my money anyways **

**Note: This is my first attempt at an X Files fan fiction but I have some NCIS stories posted here. If you like NCIS you should go check them out. Um please review and let me know what you think. Thanks.**

_**Chapter 1: Another Move, Another First Day**_

Dana Scully was a navy brat. As much as she hated it, she couldn't change it. She was twelve years old and had lived in almost as many places. Her father had told the family one night over dinner about another of their impending moves.

It didn't affect the other children as much as it did Dana. They made new friends easily and kept moderately in touch with certain ones along the way and managed to forget the others. Dana couldn't do that. She was not as apt to make friends and even less apt to let them go. Ahab had taken her aside that night before bed.

"I know the school year just started Starbuck and you wanted to make some friends this year. But this time I think I have a long term location. I'm going to be gone for a while but when I come back I won't have to leave again for a few months. And this could go on for years. I think you might get to stay there until you graduate. I'll try okay Starbuck?" She nodded at her father's words. "There's two bases close enough to the house. That house might even survive a transfer. I'm going to try. I want high school to be good for you. I want you to have friends you'll have forever. I want you to have time like you haven't had in all the other schools." She smiled and he kissed her cheek as she ran up to bed.

She lay in bed that night thinking about everywhere she had lived. The earliest she could remember was Florida. They had spent almost a year there. She started kindergarten and got to finish the school year but they left the week after. Then they had gone to Texas for about six months. Then it was Georgia. They stayed there about a year. Halfway through second grade she had to leave her friends and be the new kid again. This time it was Monterey, California. They stayed about a year there again. They ended up in Washington after that and stayed for a year, almost to the day. She started to notice patterns and began telling the few people she played with or sat with in class that she would be leaving soon. She was almost always right. After Washington was Maine. They stayed for only ten months this time. After that they moved to Illinois for a year or so. She didn't really like it there. Now they were in San Diego. Her father had said something at dinner about where they were moving next. She wanted to know. She kept a list on a piece of worn paper in her Bible. One of her friends had found it and asked if she was a foster kid. She had said that foster kids kept lists like that. Dana had told her that some of the navy brats, as they were often called, kept lists too.

Dana desperately tried to remember what Ahab had said but she hadn't been really listening. 'Washington!' that was it! But no it wasn't. It was Washington D.C. that he had said. They would be living in Maryland so he could be close to Washington D.C. and Annapolis if he needed to be. She sighed to herself deciding that if one house and one school could survive a transfer she would be happy.

Within a week they were packed and moved. The Navy had their stuff in a moving truck and they were in their car, which had been waiting for them when they got off the plane. The kids walked in and set their stuff in their rooms. As soon as the major furniture had been set up they all began to piece together their rooms. Dana thought as she worked.

'It will be just like my last school. Bill we be Mr. Popular of the sophomore class in no time flat. Missy will make friends and find some spiritual happiness here no matter what this town is like to new freshmen. Charlie will be fine, he always is. He's like rubber, always bouncing back. He will be like Bill, popular, but not because of athletics or attitude, but because it's impossible not to like him. Hopefully he will not be as protective of me as Bill is. Bill can't be protective of Missy really; she's almost as old as him but he has no problem not letting me do things I want. I think it's because I was a tomboy and always getting hurt when I was younger.' She was finally finished with her room and she went outside to see what the neighborhood was like.

Bill had protested but she promised to stay in the front yard and he reluctantly agreed when her mother had told him to leave her alone. Sitting on the front steps she watched the late evening sun. It was already November and it was very chilly. She wore long pants and boots with a long sleeved shirt and a windbreaker. She knew she would have to go in before it got dark and cold. Just then a car pulled up at the house next door and spotted the moving truck as it left. The man that got out waved to her and she smiled at him. He seemed nice. A little girl of about nine came sprinting out the door at him. He was already on the porch at that point and they went inside. A boy about her age had gotten out of the car and looked at her for a moment before she looked up. He smiled. There was something about his smile that made her think she could find a friend.

The boy carried a basketball under one arm as he walked over to the short fence separating their yards. She got up to meet him at the fence. She didn't know, but her older brother was watching from his bedroom window. He had the front bedroom and could see everything that went on. The boy from next door stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"Hi. I'm Fox Mulder. But you can call me Mulder. I don't really like my first name."

"Hi. I'm Dana Scully. I just moved in. My dad is in the Navy so we move a lot. I'm in seventh grade. What grade are you in?" He grinned widely. He liked this girl, she seemed nice.

"Same as you. When do you start school?"

"Tomorrow. Maybe you could show me around a little? I try not to be the new kid for a long time."

"Of course. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Yeah. I have a little brother. He's in fifth grade. And I have an older brother in tenth and a sister in ninth."

"Is that your older brother?" Mulder asked, nodding at the window. Dana whipped around to see her brother duck from the window.

"Yeah, he's really protective. Well it's getting late and cold and my mom will have dinner ready soon. I'll see you tomorrow at the front of the school then?" She was begging a little, hoping that her first possible friend wouldn't back out on his offer. He nodded and smiled that half smile.

"Definitely. I'll even introduce you to some people so you won't be new anymore. Good night, Dana."

"Good night, Mulder." As they went their separate ways they realized they had been so caught up in conversation they had been shaking hands for quite some time. Dana blushed as she walked back up her front stairs and into the living room where Bill was waiting angrily.

"What do you think you're doing, talking to a stranger like that?!"

"I was just meeting our neighbors Bill. They seem very nice." This made Bill angry. She had a very legitimate reason to be talking to him. "Mulder is in my grade and he's going to show me to my classes tomorrow. He offered. He's the nicest neighbor I can remember us having." She smirked. Growing up with Bill's overprotective nature had taught her how to push his buttons without getting into trouble or giving him any reason to yell at her.

Maggie Scully called them in for dinner and asked how the neighborhood looked. Dana replied with her information on the neighbors, concluding that she had already made a friend and she was very happy. When Ahab returned from work that night it was late and the kids were almost ready for bed. Before going upstairs Dana had told him that she was happy they had moved and she wanted to stay.

"I'm glad to hear you say that Starbuck!" he replied. "You've never been happy anywhere we lived before. It's a good thing the Navy agreed to let me stay until Charlie graduates!" He smiled as his youngest daughter took in the information and began jumping up and down. She hugged him tightly, kissed his cheek and went to bed smiling.

The next morning Dana was up bright and early to take a shower and pick out something to wear for school. She decided on a warm pair of jeans and a sweater with her jacket.

"You should try to look more girly this year, Dana." Missy told her. She looked down at her outfit. She was dressed pretty girly considering what she looked like the year before. She was short and had red hair though. She thought that made her very un-girly. She made her way downstairs and got up onto a stool at the kitchen counter. She ate a bowl of cereal and talked to her mom. Once the children were ready Maggie got them into the family car and drove them to their schools. Melissa and Bill were first because their school started earliest. They seemed to be fine and it was Dana's turn next. She walked up to the office and got her schedule. She was given a list of the books she would need and was directed to the library. She looked at the clock on her way out. She left the office in hopes that Mulder was already at school. Sure enough he was walking over to the office as she walked out.

He saw her and waved. She waved back and he walked up. "So you need your books?" She nodded and he walked her to the library. The books made a large pile in front of her. The woman asked for her ID number. She pulled the slip out of her pocket and read the number off. The librarian was finished with her books and went back to her tasks. She looked over at the stack and Mulder began to laugh. She could barely see over it when it sat on the counter. She glared playfully at him. It was just so easy to hang out with him. She could feel herself opening up and for once she didn't mind. This time getting hurt wasn't really an option.

He handed her two of the books on top and picked up the rest. He told her that she didn't need to bring any of them to school, they were for homework only. She sighed. "Well where am I going to put them? I don't want you to carry them around all day, and I obviously can't." He grinned.

"I know a teacher. You probably have her for Life Science. Mrs. Aarons." Dana looked down at her schedule and saw that she did indeed have Mrs. Aarons for Life Science. It was fifth period. Mulder looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"You have a few classes with me. First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth." She smiled. At least she would have a friend. "C'mon, Dana. I'll take you to drop off your books." School was starting soon and they walked up to the science room. There was a garden outside and Dana liked it already. "Mrs. Aarons?" Mulder looked in and spotted his teacher.

"Mulder. It's nice to see you. But I don't have you in class until this afternoon. What brings you all the way up here?" She noticed Dana standing near him and the books in their arms.

"Mrs. Aarons I would like you to meet my friend Dana. She's new here. She's in your class with me and I told her she could maybe put her books in your room."

"Of course you can dear." Her smile was warm and welcoming. She led them over to an unused shelf and said the books would be safe there and that they could pick them up after school. They still had almost ten minutes and Mulder decided to show her to her classes. They walked all over the campus and she felt like she could make it on her own. He insisted that if she got lost she should just look for him and he would come help her. The school was small. It had two hallways at the bottom near the P.E. area and gym and two more hallways on the other side of the cafeteria and outdoor tables.

She was a little unfamiliar with the idea of indoor hallways. Her last school had been in California where it never snowed and rained very little. He assured her that she would get used to it quickly. The bell rang and they walked to their first class: math. The teacher made a big deal about her being new and having her students welcome her to the class. She thought Mulder looked like he was holding back a laugh the whole time. Then she was seated in front of him and they could occasionally talk or she could ask him to give her directions to her next class as a reminder. When the bell rang to go to second period he told her that he would meet her at her class and introduce her to some of his friends. She nodded and left. He watched her small form walk timidly through the horde of people, 90 percent of whom already knew that it was her first day.

After her second period of history she waited outside the door for Mulder to come get her. She looked right then left and suddenly felt alone. He wasn't there. Then she heard someone making a lot of noise from the end of the hall. She looked and there was Mulder red in the face and walking quickly toward her. "This way." He said, out of breath. They walked to the end of the hall and around the corner to where a girl and boy about their age sat on the floor. "There's a fight outside. First one of the year. Oh sorry. Dana, this is Monica and John. John, Monica, this is Dana. She's new here. She lives next door to me." He motioned for her to sit with them.

"So who's fighting?" John asked Mulder.

"Gerald and Frank again. They just like making waves." They only had a 10 minute break which they managed to talk through. Dana had learned that John and Monica had been best friends with Mulder since kindergarten and had been the closest thing to dating that you could actually manage in middle school, for about six months. They hung out together, held hands sometimes, and walked each other to class. The bell rang and the four stood up. Dana thought she was having the best first day at a new school she had ever had. John and Monica walked toward the hall she had just came from and Mulder started walking to the other hall. "You coming or what? My class is next to yours." She walked quickly to catch up with him and he walked her to class. She sat in her study skills class and waited for her next class, P.E.

The study skills class was a little boring to her, but it could have just been the teacher. Mr. Johnson was nice enough but he was old and talked in a monotone. He pointed to a desk when she introduced herself and then he continued writing on the board. After the bell rang she walked toward the gym and into the girls' locker room. She walked up to the woman in there and told her that she was new and needed a uniform. She had already paid for it at the office. She was given a pair of forest green shorts, a pair of forest green sweats, and a gray t-shirt, all with the school emblem. She pulled the running shoes from her backpack and walked to the locker she had been given. It was a tiny locker that could only be used for gym. She changed quickly and went over to the mirror to put up her hair. It was about shoulder length and she didn't want it in her face while she was running. There were a few strands at the front that popped out. They were the last traces of her bangs. They were too long to be bangs and too short to properly fit into her pony tail. She tried to push them behind her ears and entered the gym. She had opted for the sweats due to the weather.

After entering the gym she scanned the crowd and found her only friends. Mulder was sitting with Monica and John. They had all gone with sweats too. She walked over to them. "Hey guys."

"Hey Dana! Sit down. Our teacher isn't here today. We don't really have to do anything. She won't be back for a while. Her son was born last week. There was an announcement about it the other day. So we have subs for a while." Dana smiled. She sat down between Mulder and Monica. She joined into their conversation easily. For once she felt like she was right where she belonged. Something hit Dana after John had finished speaking.

"What do we do for lunch around here?"

"We usually have lunch together. I meet the guys after I change and we walk to the cafeteria. The food is pretty good. I've heard some of the other school don't have very good food though. You're lucky you're here." Monica told Dana as she smiled. Dana nodded. The bell to dress rang and they parted. Dana got dressed near her locker. As she was puling on her boots Monica walked up and sat on the end of the bench. Dana closed her locker and grabbed her backpack. "Let's go." They walked out together and found the guys waiting at the door of the gym.

The four walked together to the cafeteria and stood in line. It wasn't open yet because the bell hadn't rung. Only the kids who had P.E. were out of class. After a few moments the bell rang and the kids ran to get in line. It started moving and before they knew it the four of them had their cheeseburgers, French fries and milks and were walking to the end of one of the tables. Dana learned that this was where they always sat.

"So Mulder was saying that your dad is in the Navy. Is that why you move around a lot?" She nodded. "Where have you lived?"

"Well," she said in between mouthfuls, "the farthest back I can remember is kindergarten. I got to stay at that school for a year. I know that I've lived in ten different cities across nine states. When I was five it was Jacksonville, Florida. It was nice there and I got to stay for the whole school year. Then Texas, then Georgia, then California, Washington, Maine, Illinois, and back to a different part of California. I didn't really like any of them that much. Maine was the best. There are a lot of lighthouses there. Sometimes my mom would take me to see them. I really like it here though." She smiled at them. "I feel like I have real friends."

"How often do you move?" Mulder asked. He seemed a little worried, like he was afraid that she would leave soon and he wouldn't get to see her again.

"Usually once a year, but this time my dad asked if he could stay put for a while and work at the bases in Washington D.C. and Annapolis. They said yes so we get to stay until my little brother is done with high school!" She was so happy and she wanted them to know that she wasn't going to leave. She hadn't told anyone yet. Mulder looked really happy and Monica and John seemed to be grateful as well. Their lunch time was a pleasant one until someone started yelling from the next table over.

"Hey you! Yeah you! New Girl!" The four friends looked up to see a boy yelling at them. "You're kinda small to be in the seventh grade. What did you like skip a few grades? Maybe you're a fifth grader really! Some kind of egghead ten year old they sent here to make us look bad!" His friends seemed to find this funny and some of the other eighth graders did too. Other than that people were either very quiet waiting for her reply or didn't care and went back to their lunch.

Dana wanted to scream and yell at him the way she did with Bill but the words wouldn't come out. She didn't care about his comment about her being studious, she was, she cared about the small comment. Her mom and sister were not very tall but at her age they had been much taller and she was always afraid of being the shortest person in her family forever because she hadn't found a way to make herself rise above the teasing yet. Mulder and John saw this and jumped up to her rescue yelling at the boy to be quiet and leave them alone while Monica comforted her with the fact that the boy who had said it was pretty much hated by everyone anyways and no one took him seriously.

"Alvin would you just shut your trap for once in your life. I don't see you getting a medal of honor for picking on the new kids." Another eighth grader from the end of their table commented. He seemed to be the only person whose opinion overrode the boy's.

"Thanks Skin Man." Mulder called down the table. "Don't worry about Alvin Kersh, Dana. He doesn't like anyone who isn't his 'crew'. He made fun of me in sixth grade for being tall." Dana smiled and even chuckled a little. They went back to pleasant conversation until their lunch had ended. Afterwards Mulder and Dana said goodbye to their friends and walked to Life Science. Mrs. Aarons was a fun teacher and gave Dana an energetic welcome. She even had the class introduce themselves. She asked Dana where she was from and what brought her to their area. She looked at Mulder who smiled encouragingly, knowing that she was from everywhere.

"Um, I came from San Diego, and my family moved here because my dad is in the Navy and this is where he was transferred to." Mrs. Aarons thanked her and gave her the seat next to Mulder. She had switched the seating chart around so Dana would be able to sit next to the only person she knew who could help her to be caught up on the chapters. The class went by pretty fast and during the hour she noticed that the military alphabet was displayed on one wall and the schedule was written in 24 hour military time. She smiled, knowing this made her feel a little bit better.

Sixth period arrived and Mulder walked with her to their Language Arts class where Monica and John were waiting. They went inside and Dana introduced herself to the teacher. Her name was Ms. Richards. She got the class's attention and announced that they had a new student. Dana waved and the class waved back. Monica raised her hand quickly and was called on.

"Ms. Richards, can Dana sit at our table? We have an open seat and we already know her so we can help her get caught up."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea Monica. Dana, why don't you go have a seat next to Fox." She nodded and walked over, smiling as she sat down with her friends. She mouthed her thanks to Monica who smiled and nodded. School soon ended and they walked back to Mrs. Aarons' room to pick up Dana's books. She grabbed the two small ones and Mulder grabbed the rest. They headed out to the parking lot where Maggie would pick up Dana. They saw her in the car already with Charlie in the back. She opened the door and Mulder set her books on the floor.

"Thanks. Oh, Mom, this is my friend Mulder. He lives next door."

"Hi. Mrs. Scully. I'm Fox Mulder. But you can just call me…" he was cut off by Mrs. Scully.

"Oh. It was very nice of you to help Dana with her books and get her settled into her classes. Thank you so much, Fox. You should come over for supper sometime. Maybe we could have a family meal later in the week." He smiled and nodded. It seemed like her mother was the only person who could call him Fox. He said his goodbyes to them all because his mother was coming to pick him up soon. He waved as they left and he could see Dana waving out her window at him.

**Ok so it was long but I don't care. I write long chapters. Well the list thing was an idea that I got from an episode of Bones (which I also don't own) and there are some references to other stuff in here. I used a lot of things from the middle school I went to but the colors are from my best friend's middle school. In this it's 6****th****, 7****th****, and 8****th**** in one school. It was really weird for me though, when I was writing I was trying to match the layout of my old school but then I realized that it would have to have indoor hallways and mine didn't because we don't need them in CA. I totally made up the places where Scully lived. There are Navy bases there but idk if she lived there. That's just my guess. Um, this is just my overactive imagination and I decided to make Charlie the stereotypical little brother who wants to be like his big brother but won't ever be. That's about it. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	2. Tests of Faith and Friendship

_**Chapter 2: Tests of Faith and Friendship**_

Dana had spent a full week at her new school and was already sure she belonged there. Her teachers were great; she had good friends and many acquaintances. The rest of the family seemed to be faring the same as usual, but Bill Scully, Sr. noticed the change in his youngest daughter. She was happy, genuinely happy.

The Scully family had already had the Mulders over for supper and liked their neighbors very much. Except Bill, Jr. that is, who didn't like Mulder for reasons he couldn't place. The others liked him though, as well as his little sister Samantha who was about Charlie's age, his mother Teena, and his father William. Now it was Monday again and Dana was back at school with Mulder, John, and Monica.

Dana had slept through her alarm once and had to dress fast for fear of being late to school. The day hadn't started well but it was about to get worse. She met Mulder at the front of the school as usual and they walked together to the end of the hall where Monica and John were waiting.

"Look who decided to finally join us." John remarked, jokingly. Dana blushed but smiled. She and Mulder didn't tell them that it was Dana who had been last to arrive. They barely had five minutes to spare before the bell rang for them to go to first period. Math was boring enough as was history. They all met again at their spot. After a few moments of sitting and talking there was a commotion coming from the hall to their right. Mulder and John got up and looked around the corner to see Gerald and Frank having heated words and begin to throw punches at the encouraging of the crowd.

"Let's get out of here before the teachers start breaking this up. It could get ugly. They're usually calmer after winter break." Mulder added the last sentence to reassure his friend who seemed a little shocked that this school had so many fights. At her old school you could sit in a corner and not talk to anyone and never hear about the few fights they had. According to what Mulder had told her the previous week, there were less fights at the high school. They walked over and sat in front of Mulder and Dana's third period classes.

After about five minutes the noise died down almost entirely. The fight was over and the bell was ringing. John and Monica said they would see them later and walked off to their classes. Dana and Mulder went to their classes once the teachers arrived. Study skills went by pretty fast for being so boring. Next thing they knew the two were walking toward the gym together. Dana to the girls' locker room and Mulder to the boys' locker room. After changing the group of four sat talking for a bit until the substitute brought out a basket of balls for the students. Mulder jumped up in the middle of Monica's sentence to grab a basketball. He dribbled back to them and stopped in front of their seats.

"Wanna shoot some hoops Dana?" She was about to say no thank you but he put on a sad puppy dog face and she suddenly wanted to agree.

"But I've never played before. My brother would never let me play. He said I was too short to play with him and his friends." His puppy dog face turned into a grin.

"Your brother was just being an older brother. I'll teach you. And you're not too short. Ever heard of Mugsy Bouges? He's a pro-basketball player and he's 5'3". So don't let your brother tell you you're short." She smiled and jumped up to play. They went over to the free throw line and he began instructing and helping. In no time she was making shot after shot as good as Mulder who was much taller. The bell rang to get dressed. "So now you can beat your brother at basketball." He grinned and she laughed. He went to put the ball away and they went to change.

After P.E. the four of them sat at their table eating lunch. It was pleasant. There had been no incidents since her first day and they were always deep in conversation or laughter. Dana couldn't help but think how much better it was than any other school she had been to. After they finished eating the bell rang and John and Monica got up to go to their class. They said goodbye and left Dana and Mulder to walk to Life Science. The hall seemed more crowded than usual but they were making their way through it. She was in front and he followed as closely as he could.

Out of nowhere the unmistakable form of Alvin Kersh pushed toward them, then away. There was a moment when Mulder was sure he was going to say something but he didn't and suddenly Mulder knew why. He had childishly run into Dana and sped away before she could realize what happened. She fell. It almost seemed like slow motion except Mulder could barely move forward. She was on her hands and knees on the hard tiled floor of the hall. He was at her side as soon as the crowd started to move again.

"Dana, are you ok?" He was worried. The floors were hard and unforgiving on the hands. He had seen many people fall, though it was usually because of their own clumsiness or a spill.

She looked up at him. "I'm fine." She looked at her hands as she sat back on her knees. "My knees barely hit. My hands should be fine in a few minutes though. The sting goes away." He looked at her. She seemed serious but her hands didn't look like they would be fine. They were flaming red and he was sure it would leave a bruise. He let her play the 'I'm fine' card though.

"Alright. Let's get you to class then. Maybe you'll end up being an example of injury response." He grinned at her. She laughed. It was an effective way to lighten the mood. He gripped her elbows as he stood and pulled her with him. She held her tender hands slightly away from her body, hoping that he wouldn't notice it and figure out that the fall really did hurt. He did though but the hall had almost emptied and they had to get to class. He picked up her back pack for her and carried it to class despite her protests.

"Ah, Dana, Mulder. Nice of you both to join us." Some of the students snickered, noticing that Mulder was carrying Dana's bag. Rumors were sure to fly. "We were just about to send out a search party." Mulder set Dana's bag next to her seat and sat down after she did. Mrs. Aarons was waiting patiently for their response.

"Um, sorry. We got a bit held up in the hallway. Eighth grader. Not nice. Won't let it happen again." Dana nodded, silently thanked him for not going into too much detail in front of the class. They continued on with their work. Mulder occasionally looked down to make sure Dana was alright and she tried not to look at her hands and see the redness. Then about halfway through the class she gave up and looked. She wanted to see what kind of damage the fall might have caused and to evaluate what she could and couldn't do. The heels of her hands were brilliant shades of black and blue. They were just a little swollen as the cherry on top. She looked over at Mulder and tapped his arm with her wrist.

"Mulder." she whispered. "Um do you think you could walk with me to the nurse before sixth period?" His head whipped around faster than she thought it could have. The look in his eyes was all it took for her to turn over her hands to let him see the bruising. He nodded.

"Do you want to go now? I can ask Mrs. Aarons. She'll understand."

"No. We already came in late. I don't want to leave early for the same stupid reason." He gave her a look that told her he didn't think it was a stupid reason, but he complied with her request. The bell rang and she went for her back pack but Mulder already had it and was waiting to push her chair in after she got up. She held her hands away from her body as he led her to the office with one hand on her back. They entered the Nurse's office and she looked up at them with stern eyes.

"Can I help you?" Dana stuck out her hands, explaining that she was pushed and fell in the hallway. The nurse went over to the freezer, pulled out an ice pack and wrapped it in paper towel. Dana pressed both sides of her hands onto it lightly. The cold felt wonderful on her sore hands. "And why are you here?" She turned to Mulder. He set down Dana's bag and took the seat next to her.

"Well, I saw who pushed her, she's new and I'm making sure she can get to her next class okay and I'm carrying her backpack." Mulder was one to make a good case, even if people weren't happy about it. This day had gone from okay to irritating in one fell swoop. He didn't know, however, that it was to get much worse. The nurse nodded and pulled out an incident report. Mulder filled it out and by the time he was done so was Dana and he could escort her to their class. They were given passes because class was already in full swing when they walked in. Taking their seats and handing their passes to the teacher the pair received questioning looks from their friends.

Dana turned her hands a bit to show them. John looked at Mulder and saw his anger. She hadn't just fallen and that made John angry too. Monica gave her a comforting smile. The four went back to working and before they knew it the day was over. John and Monica had been picked up and Mulder was waiting with Dana for her mother. When she pulled up Mulder set Dana's bag on the floor and rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment. Before saying to take care and going off to meet his own mother. Maggie Scully looked at her daughter in wonder. Then she followed her stare into the young girl's lap where her hands lie, turned palm up almost as if she were about to have them read by a psychic. The were pretty bruised.

"I fell in the hallway today. Mulder kept carrying my backpack. I didn't ask him to; he just did because he thought it would make my hands hurt more. I think he was right. He took me to the nurse. I put ice on them. They're fine now though." Her mom nodded as she drove off toward their house. Melissa and Bill wouldn't need to be picked up until later in the day and Charlie was in the back seat. "I think Mulder is my best friend. The kind that you have a connection with. Where you just know. This was the first good move, ever." Maggie smiled at her daughter's happiness but wanted to cry that it had taken her this long to find a place that worked for her.

They made it home and Dana headed for her room. She wanted to avoid Bill as much as possible until the bruises were mostly healed. Bill would go crazy, and knowing him he would try to blame someone for it. It was someone's fault but she didn't want her brother to know that a stupid middle school bully had pushed her in the hallway. 'In fact,' she thought. 'he would probably try to blame Mulder. He doesn't like him. But he's never liked any of my guy friends anyway.' She mentally shrugged. She sat down on her bed with her book for English. She tentatively held the cover in her hands letting it lightly rest on the bruises. It didn't really hurt. It only hurt if she poked right at it.

A light flicked on in Mulder's room. It was right across from her window. He drew the blinds and sat down on his bed. He would have opened the window and talked to her, the houses were that close, but it was November and pretty chilly so he left the window locked and they stuck to silent communication. He grabbed a notepad and wrote something in large letters.

"You okay? How are your hands?" She smiled. It was nice to have someone care if she was alright instead of wanting revenge like Bill always did. She grabbed a notepad of her own and began writing.

"Yeah. They don't hurt much anymore. Thanks. So what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" He smiled. She always asked about him and his family. It was like she wanted to absorb everything, as if she was on a deadline. 'She probably thinks she still is.' he thought.

"Not much. Just eating food I guess. Just the four of us. Family never comes. You?"

"Eating, playing games, maybe a little Christmas decorating. The six of us. We never have any family with us either." He nodded.

"Did you get #12 on the science homework?" He grinned at her. She laughed. She liked laughing. Few people really made her laugh, but Mulder always did.

"It's endoplasmic reticulum."

"Thanks. Talk later maybe?" She nodded and they both went about doing their homework.

She thought how dark it was and that Mulder should be done with his homework by now and that they should talk. But he watching Samantha because their parents were out. There was a loud noise coming from outside. She could hear it but it was indistinct. Then there was nothing. It was eerily still and it seemed like the world was afraid to move. The Mulders' car pulled up and became the only sound. The only thing keeping the world normal in her twelve year old eyes. She had a bad feeling but she didn't know why. There was a scream. It was Mrs. Mulder. Dana stood upright almost immediately. She pulled on her boots and grabbed her heavy coat on her way to the door. Bill jumped in her way.

"Where are you going?!"

"There's something wrong next door. I heard Mrs. Mulder screaming; it sounded like she was scared." Dana was annoyed. Her brother stood in her way on everything. But this time he backed down. He had heard it too. She noticed for the first time that he had his boots on but not tied. His right hand reached back for his coat while his left guarded the door.

"I'm coming with you. We'll tell Mom and she can send Dad over with us." Dana nodded in agreement with her brother. She waited impatiently by the door as he went to tell Maggie what happened, where they were going, and to send Bill, Sr. They clamored out the door and toward their neighbors' house. They rang the bell a few times and got no answer. Bill reached forward to knock on the door and it opened at the first knock. It had been almost open the whole time. "Hello?!" he called into the house. "Mr. and Mrs. Mulder? Anyone?"

They could hear muffled sobs coming from the other room. Dana got worried and pushed her brother aside as soon as she heard coherent words. They had barely reached her ears and she was in the house, running to her friend. "In…._sniff_…here." Bill followed after her less zealously but with an amount of neighborly concern. He walked into the back bedroom to see Mrs. Mulder wrapped in Mr. Mulder's arms and Dana sitting on the floor with her hands on Mulder's shoulders. He was visibly shaken. Bill entered the room, unsure of his place and went over to set a kind hand on Mr. Mulder's shoulder. He returned the gesture with a kindly mouthed thank you over his wife's head.

Bill turned back and saw his little sister wrap her arms around Mulder in a gesture of comfort and support. Just then Maggie and Bill, Sr. entered the room. Maggie extricated William Mulder from his wife's arms before hugging the woman in compassion. William went to talk with the Bills. He explained that they had arrived home and found their son sobbing on the floor in shock and their daughter nowhere to be found. They asked what had happened and he had told them that a light came and took her away and he was frozen. He couldn't do anything. They weren't sure what it meant but he had clammed up and gone back to sobbing on the floor. The three looked over to where Dana was gently rocking her friend back and forth. He had stopped crying and had gone to clutching to her shoulders for dear life.

Dana was sitting with her best friend in the midst of a crisis. It was what best friends did. While the situation was not one that often occurred it still felt right to her to be the one there for him. After she had gotten him to stop crying she was rocking back and forth while he was holding onto her. He was scared and she knew. She was scared too but she hoped he couldn't see that. She wanted to be strong for the first person she had ever felt at home with. He began to whisper into her ear, telling her everything that happened. Having someone who would just listen to him and not make snap judgments was the only thing that allowed him to recount the ordeal without breaking into fresh sobs. Silent tears were now the only sign.

"You don't believe me, do you?" he whispered, expecting the answer his parents had given him. They thought he was just making up a story to explain why he wasn't keeping a better eye on his sister.

"I do. I don't know if I believe that she was abducted but I believe that's what you think you saw. I know you're not lying. And I know it wasn't your fault." He hugged her tighter. He knew he couldn't expect her to believe in the extreme possibilities he did, but she knew he wasn't making up stories. After a little while the small groups had broken and William Mulder had called in the missing person to the FBI who would handle it because of his government job. Dana stood up and extended a hand to Mulder to help him up but he refused it. She looked at him confused. He flipped over her hand to reveal the purple-ish bruise. She looked down, slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten the incident.

Her brother and parents wanted to go home and give the Mulders some time. She nodded at their request and turned to say goodbye to her friend. He bent down and she stretched up to hug him properly. "Thank you" he whispered into her ear.

"Any time. You know where to find me." She whispered back. She patted his shoulder as they pulled apart and she left with her family. They returned to the house and she promptly went to bed. This week was going to suck. She didn't expect Mulder at school until they got back from Thanksgiving break on Monday. She vowed to check in on him each day though, just in case he needed to talk to someone.

"Danes? Are you in there?" her sister, Melissa, called through the door. Dana got up to answer it and Melissa pushed her way inside, closing the door softly behind her. She sat on the bed and motioned for Dana to sit with her. "What happened over there? Is your friend ok?" Dana proceeded to recount the events. She had expected her sister to be skeptical but she was fairly open to the idea. The alien idea made more sense to Missy than it did to Dana and she said if Mulder was as honest with her as she claimed then that's what he saw. Melissa was much easier to make friends, let people in, trust them, understand them. Dana was the skeptic who was either overly trusting and paid the price or completely untrusting and paid another price. Either way she ended up unhappy. At least she trusted Mulder and he trusted her. This was a mutual friendship, something that Missy was proud that her sister had accomplished in such a short time. After hugging her and saying good night, Missy went upstairs to her room and left Dana to sleep fitfully. Around 2 am she looked over at Mulder's room and saw that he fared no better. The lights were off but the glow of the moon let her see that he was pacing. She fell asleep again and awoke mostly unrested.

When she got to school in the morning she walked alone to the spot she knew John and Monica were waiting at. "Morning guys." She sounded tired and upset. After Monica's concerned questions she caved and told them most of what had happened. She didn't want them to worry too much about Mulder. She had it covered. The day went by slowly though. By the end she just wanted to go home and sleep. When her mom pulled up she got into the car and leaned back onto the headrest. After arriving and setting down her stuff she walked next door and knocked four times. Mulder answered the door.

"Hey, how was school today?"

"Eh, it was long and boring. I just wanted to come check on you. That's what friends are for right?" He nodded.

"I'm okay really. They have a huge FBI team searching for her, but I don't think they'll turn up anything. I just want this whole thing to be over with. I need to find her a different way, you know?" She nodded, not sure of the way he wanted to find her, but she knew the emotion. "Thanks for coming by. I'll see you later. Go get some sleep, you look tired."

She smiled and hugged him around the middle. "You, too. If you need anything just call." He nodded and she went home. Almost the second her head hit the pillow she was sound asleep. Her dreams didn't make sense. They were about aliens, monsters, conspiracies, the FBI, a man who smoked a lot, and a balding man who looked suspiciously like Walter Skinner.

**So I really wanted to work this in, as well as a few other things that Mulder and Scully normally do. Some of these things I've actually done with my best friend. Like the notepads. We do that every once in a while, we used to more, but we never lived next door. More to come soon, I hope. Wish my football team luck. We play my other friend's school on Friday and I really wanna beat them.**


	3. Leftovers and Loyalty

**Well this was fun to write even if it did take me longer than I was hoping. I was out shopping for my first car yesterday and we had a big football game on Friday against me friend's school. We lost but it was fun. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter. And thanks for the reviews, they really make my day.**

_**Chapter 3: Leftovers and Loyalty**_

When she awoke it was early morning. The sun had barely risen and her alarm wouldn't go off for another forty minutes. She got up and dressed, making sure she had no pressing homework that had to be attended to, she settled at her desk and looked out at Mulder's window. He suddenly came into view. He was in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He sat down facing her and they started talking, but without any words. They were creating their own language. Subtle facial expressions and looks in their eyes and they could practically read each other's thoughts. He hadn't slept much but he was glad that she had. Then he decided he wanted some words. He began to write on the notepad.

"I want to talk. Is it to early to ask you to come over?" She smiled and shook her head no. He seemed to misunderstand. She wrote onto the notepad in her elegant handwriting that seemed to contrast and complement his scrawl.

"Its never too early. Even 3 a.m. Give me a second to put on my boots and sneak out." He smiled and nodded. She laced up her boots and grabbed her coat from its hook beside her door. She opened her door slowly and looked around. Then she heard her older brother at the table eating. He would never let her leave the house this early, and if it was to see Mulder he would probably throw a fit and wake the whole house. She decided the window was a better option.

She pried open the window as Mulder looked on, slightly shocked. She deftly shimmied down the wall, even with her coat on. She pointed to the door and Mulder went to open it. He came out in unlaced boots a coat and with a heavy blanket. With a swoosh he was seated on the bench on his porch and was gesturing for her to sit with him. She did and he threw the blanket over her legs as well.

"What's up?" she asked him.

"Just wanted to talk. Nothing in particular. Did you dream last night?"

"Technically everyone dreams, every night you can have two or more dreams that may be as long as a movie." He looked at her with a funny expression on his face. He liked her random scientific babbling, it was nice. He smiled. "But you're asking if I remember my dreams." He nodded. "Kind of. There was this group of people and they were talking with aliens, who were grey, not green."

"Typical of aliens. They really are grey you know. Green is just a common mistake." She smiled at his random alien knowledge. "Sorry. Continue." She nodded.

"Well in the group there was a guy who smoked a lot. I think he was talking about us, but I couldn't hear him. It was just one of those things your dream tells you. And there were a lot of monsters. They were weird things that I don't believe in so I don't know why I dreamt them. You were there too. And there was a man who was kind of, um, I guess more than kind of bald. He looked a lot like Skinner. It was weird."

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"I had the same dream."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe we've suddenly become psychic and we're telling the future. Or maybe we're just going crazy. Or maybe our brain waves were somehow able to subconsciously contact each other." He seemed to be mulling over the possibilities. Then he looked down to find his best friend sitting there looking at him with one eyebrow raised. He couldn't help but laugh. He would never forget that face. It was weirdly cute, but serious and challenging at the same time like 'are-you-kidding-me?'

Sitting there on his porch in the cold morning sunlight he realized how much smaller than him she really was. Her head reached a few inches above his shoulder and her feet didn't touch the ground but she didn't seem to mind being so much shorter than most of her friends and family. It gave her the advantage. No one would ever suspect the little redhead until they were at the receiving end of anything she could dish out.

A loud bang came from the screen door of her house. She knew before she saw that Bill was coming to find her. He had looked in her room when the alarm had kept going and the window was open and she wasn't there. He marched with a purpose up the walk. Dana rose, not wanting her brother to make this into Mulder's fault. She hugged him quickly before leaving.

"Say hi to everyone and tell them I said 'Happy Thanksgiving', okay?" She nodded and waved bye as she met Bill and his temper in the middle ground between the two houses.

"What the hell were you thinking?! It's too early in the morning for him to be calling for help! He doesn't need it anyways! He lost his sister! It was his fault! And if you catch a cold I'm telling Mom it was his fault too!"

"Shut up Bill! I chose to come over here! I woke up and saw that he was awake! I suggested that we talk for a while! I asked if it was ok if we talked on his porch! Don't blame him for what I did! If I catch a cold it'll be my fault! And he lost his sister! He didn't do anything wrong! Bad things happen to good people sometimes! That's life Bill!" Mulder stood there for a moment, amazed that she had defended him. In doing so, she had lied to her brother. It was his idea not hers but she didn't want her brother mad at him so she took the blame. He had never known friendship like that. John and Monica would stick up for him sure, but never in the way Dana had. And he had only known her for a couple of weeks.

Dana stormed back into the house. Bill had made her angry. He was very good at that. He distrusted any boy who got near his sister. He was especially unnerved by her talking to a boy under a blanket, at 6 in the morning, about aliens. What unnerved him even more was that after knowing this boy for a week or two she had yelled and screamed and stood up to her brother for him. That and his twelve year old sister was telling him how life was. Wasn't he supposed to be the one giving her life lessons?

Dana removed her coat and scarf and hung them on the hooks near the door before settling in to breakfast. Her mother and sister made no mention of her absence or Bill's tantrum. They merely made pleasant conversation. Dana went back to her room to fix her hair which had gone all over the place out of her ponytail after her spat with her brother. Missy followed her to talk privately.

"You know, its funny how Bill protects you from your best friend. I saw you guys earlier. Bet you didn't even know I was awake. I was watching the two of you, well mostly him because seeing into your room from mine is hard, but you were communicating without words or signs or anything, just your faces. It was a connection, I could just feel it. It's why I woke up. There was some power from both of our houses and it connected them as one. It was too powerful to ignore. Don't let Bill stand in the way of your friendship with Mulder." Dana looked up from the mirror with a grin plastered to her face. She jumped up to hug Melissa, grateful to have someone on her side at least.

At school Dana walked morosely to the spot she knew would be occupied by John and Monica. It was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break and the students were more than a little crazy. Dana waved as she walked up to her friends and they waved back. She felt comfortable with them there, but she never really felt like it was a perfect fit without Mulder. It was always the four of them, like an unfinished puzzle without him.

"Morning Dana." The two chorused from the floor. Dana lowered herself onto the ground carefully. The bruises on her hands had begun their color change and were sensitive again.

"Morning. Mulder says 'hi' and 'Happy Thanksgiving'. He's doing okay. He'll be back on Monday."

"When did you last talk to him?" John asked, wondering how current her information was.

"Early this morning. We were sitting and talking and my brother decided to have a temper tantrum. It's interesting to watch a fifteen year old act like an overprotective, spoiled, child."

"He has first born syndrome. He's used to getting what he wants and being a big brother means he's overprotective and he has a temper, hence the tantrum." Monica smiled as she said this. Dana nodded profusely, agreeing with the whole thing. The bells just kept ringing. The day had flown by and Dana was waiting for her mother. The car pulled up and Dana got in. She was home and had no work to do.

Thanksgiving went as usual for most of the Scully clan. There was turkey and stuffing, corn and string beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes and rolls. Everyone was laughing and having fun, but Dana felt a wave of sadness that she couldn't squelch. So instead she his it, as she always had. It worked as she had hoped; her family thought she was happily celebrating the holiday with them

In truth, her thoughts strayed to the house next door. William Mulder had gotten into his car and drove off around 8 a.m. Less than an hour later Teena Mulder had gone up to her room and shut and door and curtains. No other lights had been on in the house the entire day. She was worried about her best friend. She didn't want him to be alone or hungry on Thanksgiving.

It was around 4 that evening and Dana was helping her mom put away the leftovers when she finally decided to voice her concern.

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"I was wondering if we could make a plate for Mulder and his mom. Mr. Mulder left this morning and I don't think Mulder has been out of his room all day." Maggie smiled widely, almost tearfully, and hugged her youngest daughter. She was thrilled that Dana had finally found a friend she cared about so openly and was not about to let go of. Maggie nodded and went to get some paper plates and aluminum foil.

Both plates were piled with food and wrapped in foil for Dana to carry over. At the door, she shrugged on her coat, stuck her feet into her boots, and wrapped her scarf around her neck before picking up the plates and starting for the door. Bill was suddenly in her way; what else was new?

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Dana is going next door to take the Mulders some plates of food. We were worried about them not having thanksgiving dinner." Bill had a sudden interest in his feet when his mother came to Dana's defense. He stepped aside and she brushed past him to the door. As she closed the door she treated her brother to a full 100-watt Dana Scully smile that screamed 'Ha-I-win!'. Then the door shut with a muffled pop and Bill skulked off.

_Knock-knock-knock._ Dana had been knocking on the door for a while and was about to give up when Mulder appeared in the doorway. He was still in his pajamas and his hair was sticking up in weird places like he had been constantly running his fingers through it. That one strand seemed to keep falling in front of his forehead, it was distinctly Mulder. In fact, Dana thought it was one of the few things that made him look like himself. His clothes and hair were a mess, he looked tired and there was a purple bruise on the side of his face. He looked weak, emotionally and physically.

"Hey" she said, momentarily surprised by his appearance.

"Hey. Sorry I'm not dressed for the occasion." he joked, making her smile a little. "Do you want to come in out of the cold?" She nodded and walked in, stopping in the entryway to removed her coat, scarf and boots before entering the house. He took the plates from her and put one in the fridge, taking the other to the microwave. He removed the foil and heated it up for a few seconds before inviting her to the table while he ate.

"Mulder. Are you okay?" He looked up from his food. "Your face. What happened? Whatever it is you can tell me. I'll keep your secret if you want me to." He swallowed his mouthful and nodded.

"My dad. He got…angry. It was my responsibility to keep Sam safe and I failed. He was kind of wailing on me last night. It's alright though. He had had a couple of drinks." She brought her fingers up to touch the bruise. He winced a little but when her hand had slid far enough up his face for the heel of it to sit next to his cheek she began to laugh. "What is it?" She forced him to follow, making him bend a little so her hand stayed against his face. She had pulled him to the mirror in the entryway and stood there as he looked at their matching bruises. He began to laugh too.

"You better go eat your dinner before it gets cold." she reminded him after catching her breath. They walked back to the table and he began eating again. "I'm sorry Mulder. I shouldn't ask, but does your dad hit you a lot?"

He looked deep in thought for a moment then chewed, swallowed and replied, "I guess more than the average but not a lot. Only when I do something really stupid, or he gets drunk. I try to avoid it." They talked for a little while longer about things of very little importance before Dana had to leave.

"I've gotta get going Mulder. My mom and Missy are taking me with them to shop this year." She looked happy about it so Mulder nodded and got up to say goodbye. She went to hug him around the middle, like usual. "Happy Thanksgiving Mulder." He winced as she made contact with his ribs. She pulled back confused, then enlightened as she realized why he was in pain. She took hold of the hem of his t-shirt and looked into his eyes to make sure it was alright. There silent language becoming more and more valuable each day. She tugged it up a bit, just enough to see the purple bruises covering his lower ribs. "Oh, Mulder. I'm sorry."

He bent down and she reached up to hug him around the neck instead, careful to avoid the bruise on his face. "It's ok. I'll be alright. I'm used to it, I guess. You won't tell will you?" he added after pulling away from her. She shook her head. He followed her to the entryway where she put on her coat, boots and scarf again, before trudging out into the cold. Halfway down the walk she turned around and faced him.

"Hey, Mulder. What are you thankful for?"

"I'm thankful for you Dana. You're my best friend, the best friend I'll ever have. What about you? What are you thankful for?"

"You." They both smiled. She walked home and as soon as she was inside he closed the door and went back to his room, respite from self-loathing over.

"What took you so long?!" Bill asked in a little more than a raised voice.

"I was talking to Mulder. He was eating. We were having a pleasant dinner conversation. You don't ever talk to your best friend?" He was flabbergasted for a moment but quickly recovered.

"My best friend is a guy. I'm a guy. You're a girl and your best friend should be too. That's how life works Dana."

"Maybe you've just never had a friendship like the one I have with Mulder. Get used to the idea, Bill, it isn't going away." She had taken off her outer garments and left him standing in the entryway dumbfounded.

"Starbuck is right, Bill. You should go apologize to her. It would be the noble thing to do." Bill, Sr. was right and his son knew that but he would never show it.

"Okay Dad. I don't want little Dana to get the last word in." Bill, Sr. realized how much the idea bothered his oldest child but knew there was nothing left he could do.

_Rap-tap-tap_. There was a light knocking on Dana's door. She walked over to it and inadvertently let her older brother in. "Listen Danes, I'm sorry I blew up back there. I just think this guy Mulder is a bad influence on you. I don't trust him."

"Well I do, and that's what's really important. I don't need my overprotective big brother ruling my life. The point of having friends is getting to choose who they are." The phrase she was referring to rang in Bill's head. He knew it was directed at him. In a moment of anger or not, he knew that she would never take it back. "Now please get out of my room, I have to get some sleep for shopping tomorrow." He left with the phrase 'You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family' still echoing in his thoughts.

Dana slammed the door in his face and went to bed. She managed to get to sleep so she would be rested for the morning filled with shopping. It was only 2:45 a.m. when Dana was awakened by Missy who had barged into her room and began assaulting her with pillows. She got up, got dressed, grabbed some semblance of breakfast, and was out the door with her mother and sister. Melissa and Dana were each given a specific amount of money for buying Christmas gifts.

Melissa rand around the store looking for the best deals on things for her new friends. Dana walked with a purpose. She headed straight for the accessories section and picked out a beautiful green scarf, hat and gloves set for Monica. It was the perfect color for her and was really good quality. She was looking around for a present for John when she saw exactly what she was looking for. There were a few bats on sale that had been left over from baseball season and had been signed by the local minor league team. She grabbed one of the three that were left. Then she had to look for something for Mulder. She knew exactly what to get him. She walked to the craft aisle and started looking at photo album after photo album until she found the perfect one. It was a medium brown leather and had 'Album' written on the front in gold. The inside was nice as well and allowed for some creativity. Then she grabbed three one use cameras and headed off to find something for her family. She got Melissa a dream dictionary, her mom thermal driving gloves, Ahab an album of his favorite song, Beyond the Sea, Bill a football, and Charlie a shiny new helmet for his bike. She took her gifts over to the gift wrapping station and wrapped them all in cheerful holiday paper.

She met her mother and sister in front of the store and they walked out to the car together. All the presents were put into the trunk of the car and they were headed home. It was then that Maggie saw an opportunity to ask Dana the questions she had been dying to ask.

"So Dana. Do you know if the Mulders are doing anything for Christmas?"

"Huh, oh, um, I don't know. Probably not."

"Would you like to invite them over?"

"Mr. Mulder probably wouldn't come, but I could ask if you want."

"I asked if you would like to invite them, sweetie."

"Um… yeah I would."

"Good." Maggie nodded with a satisfied smile and kept driving toward their house. They all unloaded the presents and stuffed them into a closet near the living room. Dana went into her bedroom to get a little more sleep before dinner. The rest of the weekend went normally. They watched TV and played some board games. It was chilly and there wasn't much to do so they just stayed inside.

Monday came and Dana felt like she was waiting forever for Mulder to arrive. He got out of his mom's car only a few minutes before class started. He walked over to where she was sitting on a bench waiting. She stood up immediately and lightly hugged him. She had been worried that he was staying home again. He looked down at her in confusion.

"I was afraid you weren't coming. School is boring without my best friend." She smiled at him and he smiled back. Walking along his hand managed to find the small of her back. Internally he was glad she was short because it hurt him to lift his arm very high. They never made it to their spot. Instead they went straight to first period. The bell had rung and they knew Monica and John would understand. Two hours of boring class later they four met up in their spot for break.

"Mulder! Good to see you man!"

"Hey John! Hey Monica! Did you both have a good Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah it was alright." John replied.

"Yes, it was good. Dana said your sister is missing. We wish we could do something but did you have thanksgiving or do anything?"

"Yeah, Dana brought some food over for me and my mom. Thanks for asking." She nodded and they never brought it up again. They didn't even ask about the bruise on his face. It was almost like they knew why it was there. The day continued pretty much in the same way. Mulder was Mulder, injured or not, he was always making his friends laugh. It seemed to Dana that a lot of people liked him. Until lunch, that is. They had just sat down to eat when Walter Skinner walked up to their table.

"Hey Mulder. I heard about your sister. I'm really sorry. Do you know how it happened or who took her?" It was meant to be a question of friendly interest, so Mulder would know his friends did care.

"Well I know what happened but no one will believe me. There was a bright light and aliens came to take her. I know it for a fact. No one wants to believe though. They keep looking but they won't find her. I gave up. I have to find her my own way, one of these days I'll find her." Skinner nodded approvingly. He may not believe in aliens but he wasn't going to hold it against Mulder. If he was right, Mulder would just prove it to him later. Until then he would stick to his beliefs and stick to his friend's side.

Meanwhile the entire cafeteria had come to a standstill, nothing moved, nothing made a sound. Everyone was looking at them. When Mulder finally realized this he was slightly unnerved but firmly held his ground. He looked down at his friends, assuming they would be looking at him just as crazy as the others but none of them did. John and Monica looked a bit shell-shocked but they stood by him. Dana was calmly staring back at the

crowd. She just stared at them as if she could somehow make them all disappear or turn around. Mulder was impressed by her gusto and her loyalty.

"I'm really sorry about it all Mulder. I hope she comes back safely." He nodded kindly and walked off. The staring didn't stop. Mulder ignored it as best he could but Dana couldn't. It bothered her, the way they stared at him, like he was crazy.

"Dana. Don't worry about it. It's alright. I don't need them. It's not like I ever really liked most of them anyways." Finally she looked up at him. There were tears brimming in her bright blue eyes. He set his hand on her shoulder and began to lead her away from the table. "We'll be back in a minute." he said over his shoulder to Monica and John. Pnce they were out in the hall he turned toward her. "What's wrong?"

"I just can't believe the way they were staring at you. There were a bunch of crazy people at my old school. They said stupid things all the time and most of them were lies and no one even cared. But if you say something that's true they all look at you like you're…like…" She was about to dissolve into tears when his arms wrapped around her shoulders and she was reminded that she needed to be strong for her friend. She lightly hugged him back, being careful of his bruised sides. She pulled away from him, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"Don't be sorry. It just means I have less friends to buy for this Christmas." He joked and she smiled. He could always lighten the mood.

"Speaking of Christmas my mom wanted to know if your family would like to join us this year."

"Well my dad hardly ever comes home anymore and my mom is Jewish but I would like to, if that's alright." She grinned happily.

"Of course it is!" They turned and he guided her back to the table. He leaned down just before they reached the table and whispered into her ear as if he was slightly embarrassed.

"Do you think your mom could take me home today?" She nodded, there was no explanation needed. The bell soon rang and they were on their way to their fifth period life science class. They took their seats and found a small stack of papers on every desk. As the class filed in and the late bell rang Mrs. Aarons started to explain.

"Alright. I know you're wondering what these papers are, so I'm here to explain. This is about the annual 7th grade science camp trip. You will have the opportunity to spend one week at a camp in the mountains with many of the students from this school and the other two middle schools in the district. There is a fee but it's worth it. There a two sections, a boys side and a girls side. One girls cabin will be paired with one boys cabin and the two will join a naturalist for the week. There will be hiking and some very fun activities. You should all consider this trip. It will be in April so you have some time to gather the money or fundraise if you need to. So take these papers home and talk to your parents about them." With that she began on the lesson and the day continued very slowly. By the time the final bell rang and they bolted out of sixth period they were excited with the prospect of Christmas and a week of camping with their friends.

**So I hope you all liked this and come back to read the rest. They will be going up through high school and then I think an epilogue afterwards to tie it to the series. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Please review, I'd love suggestions as well, if you have any. **


	4. Christmas

**Ok I'm starting this while procrastinating on homework a little and eating leftover Chinese food. I just felt like writing I guess. The science camp thing that I mentioned and will keep mentioning is a real thing that I did in the fifth grade for one week and in the seventh grade for only three days. I went back two years ago and will be going again this year to be a cabin leader and watch over the little ones. Just thought you should know I'm basing these things on real experiences.**

_**Chapter 4: Christmas**_

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas passed at a surprising rate. The four friends had gotten permission and money from their parents to go to camp. Dana knew Bill, Jr. wasn't happy about it and Mulder told her that his parents just wanted to get rid of him for a little while, but they were glad to be going nonetheless.

Before they knew it, it was winter break and they were saying their goodbyes. Mulder rode home with Dana, as he had done almost everyday since his first day back at school. There was a comfortable silence about the car in anticipation of the holiday and joy from the carols on the radio. Maggie was the first to speak.

"Fox, dear, would you like to come over tonight for supper and help trim the tree? We bought you a stocking, too." His face brightened at the kindness and sincerity of her voice. Not even his own family accepted him as the Scullys had, except Samantha that is.

"Thank you Mrs. Scully. You really didn't have to, but I would love to come over and help. If that would be alright with the rest of the family, too." They all knew he was referring to the eldest Scully child, who, quite clearly, hated him.

"Don't you fuss about Bill. I'll keep him in line. It's nothing against you, you know. Bill has always hated Dana's friends. He managed to find something about them that wasn't perfect. He tried it with Melissa too but she wouldn't have it. One yelling match with Missy and he was cowering in a corner. Dana spites him though. She doesn't scare him, but she puts him in his place."

"Mom!"

"Well you do."

"Remind me never to make you angry." Mulder joked, effectively lightening the mood and causing the three of them to laugh wholeheartedly. Once they pulled up at home Mulder jumped out of the car with his backpack and walked to his door. "What time should I be over?"

"You can set your things down and come over now if you'd like." He grinned and nodded as he rushed inside. Only a few moments later he was knocking on the front door of the Scully home. It was Dana who answered the door. She had only just finished removing her coat and boots before ushering him into the house out of the freezing winds and snow. He removed his coat and boots and joined his best friend at the breakfast nook where she was stringing popcorn for the tree.

"Can I help?" he asked, hoping he wasn't encroaching. Her smile told him that he wasn't.

"Of course. Here you just thread it through….like this." She demonstrated. He copied and in no time flat he was threading popcorn with his best friend for the Christmas he never thought he would have. The door opened and then shut lightly. There was a moment while the person entering took off their coat and walked in. It was Melissa.

"Hey everyone! Oh, hello Mulder. Nice to see you've joined us for the fun filled tree trimming." she piped in a cheerful voice that somehow reminded Mulder of Christmas. It was joyful and overflowing with hope and good natured love. The door opened widely and the wind whistled into the mud room. Then it slammed closed. Mulder was sure it was Bill. He heard boots thud to the floor as they were removed. Then he figured Bill's coat came off and was hung up. Then a loud yell came from the room he was occupying. He had seen Mulder's coat.

"What is he doing here?! This is our Christmas! It's family time!" Bill roared as he entered the room.

"He is here because we invited him Bill. He is as much a part of our family this Christmas as anyone else. He would not have a Christmas otherwise. No one deserves to be without a Christmas to celebrate with friends or family. Since he cannot celebrate with his blood family he will celebrate with us. You will keep your temper and be civil. He is a guest. One we are _very_ happy to have. Understood?"

"Yes, Mom." Bill stormed up the stairs to his room. Mulder looked back at them, his eyes truly sorry for the turmoil he was causing the family.

"Don't worry about it Fox. He'll get over it eventually. Bill has always been a bit hotheaded. Sometimes he just doesn't think and jumps to the most terrible conclusions. You're always welcome here." He nodded and went back to work. Out of the blue there was a small hand on his arm. He looked down at the red fingernails and knew it was Dana. He looked up at her. She smiled at him and patted his arm reassuringly. He smiled back and they continued their work. In a short while dinner was almost ready. The smell wafted from the kitchen making the whole house hungry.

"Dinner is served!" Maggie called from the dining room. She was seated at one end, Bill, Sr. took the other end, Melissa took the seat next to her mother, Dana next to her, Mulder sat between her and her father, Bill, Jr. sat across from them and Charlie took the other seat next to Maggie. Mr. Scully gestured for everyone to join hands and then bowed his head.

"Heavenly Father we are gathered at this table to receive your blessing. Our prayers are with those who could not be here today, but we gladly welcome Fox Mulder into our home and our hearts --Bill silently scoffed at this-- and hope to make his life and holiday brighter despite the hardship of his family as your word commands. Bless our family that is often far away but never gone from our hearts. Thank you Lord. Amen." There was a chorus of 'Amens' before the family began to pile food onto their plates. Even Mulder, who had lost faith in any God when his sister disappeared, was moved by the warm words and kind prayer of the Scully family.

The whole table was clacking with the sound of plates and bowls and spoons swishing food onto plates. The conversation was lively and the food was fantastic. It was like a mini Christmas dinner. Mulder was sufficiently impressed.

"Enjoying yourself Mulder?" Dana asked, looking up at him with amusement.

"Very much. Better than any Christmas I've ever had, and it's not even Christmas yet." He smiled down at his friend who seemed very pleased with his answer.

"So Mulder, Dana says the two of you and some of your other friends are going to camp together. You like it up there? You ever been?"

"Yeah. Our class went for a few days in elementary school. It's a fun place. It'll be more fun this time though. This time we get to go on a night hike and climb up the mountain to play survivor. It's amazing. My friend, Skinner, was telling me about it the other day. I'm really excited to get to go with my best friend." The last bit made Mr. Scully extremely happy that his youngest daughter had finally found her niche in life and was able to make a lasting impact on someone, the way he always knew she would.

"Sounds good. So you play any sports Mulder?" The conversation went on like this for the entirety of the meal. Dana was happy her father liked her best friend, though she had to keep shooting death glares at her brother to keep him from butting in and ruining the night.

When they were finished eating it was time to decorate the tree. They took out ornament after ornament, Dana sometimes stopping to explain one to Mulder. He had never had such a good time, even Bill, Jr. was civil, though it's hard not to be when Christmas carols are playing. Mulder watched as the very last thing, the star, was placed on the tree. Mr. Scully lifted Dana off the ground and held her high enough so she could put the star on. They plugged in the tree and the whole room came to life in a brilliant display of lights and shiny baubles. Mulder decided it was late and about time he got home.

"Um, I think I should get going. It's getting kind of late. Thank you all for having me over." He got up from his seat on the floor next to Dana, where they had been watching the tree light up. He shook Mr. Scully's hand, nodded at Bill, ruffled Charlie's hair, and hugged Melissa and Mrs. Scully. Dana walked him to the door where he went to put on his coat and boots. He was barely into the mudroom and out of sight of the living room when Dana hugged him around the middle. He was slightly surprised but he hugged her back tightly.

"Thank you for coming. I'll talk to you later. Be careful of your dad." He nodded and pulled on his boots. He hugged her again quickly before putting on his coat and opening the door. He turned back to look at her.

"Thanks for inviting me. And I meant what I said about this being the best Christmas I've ever had." She smiled and waved goodbye before walking back into the living room to her waiting mug of hot chocolate. She looked out the window for a brief moment and saw Mulder walk up to his door and open it, only to be scolded by an accusatory finger and dragged inside painfully by the ear, or the hair, she really couldn't tell. She tried to suppress a gasp, but the slight intake of breath was noticed by her eldest sibling. Bill looked at her like she was crazy, so she looked at him like she was angry and he left her alone.

They sat listening to Christmas carols for a while as some members of the family began to slowly drift away to their rooms. In what felt like no time at all, Dana and Bill were the only ones left in the room. She was ignoring the fact that he was staring at her with a burning intensity. She didn't want to wake the whole house with a shouting match but that was obviously what he wanted.

"Why do you do these things Dana?! He comes into our house, eats our food, decorates our tree, and then leaves because 'it's late'. What is that all about?! Huh?!" She couldn't take it anymore. She had had enough of Bill's rantings about her friend. She shouted back.

"Mom invited him tonight, it was Mom's idea to invite him! Of course I wanted to but that doesn't mean I don't understand that it's family time! Mom considers him nearly family and so do I! If you can't accept it fine! But don't be rude! And don't insist on waking the dead with a screaming match of epic proportions every time he comes over! Now if you don't mind I would like to watch the snow and the tree and drink my hot chocolate in relative peace!" She settled back into her chair to make it clear he would be the one leaving.

Slowly he got up and crossed to the stairs, utterly beaten at his own game by his twelve year old kid sister. He left her there watching the snow fall lazily outside the window. She sipped her chocolate as if she could somehow grasp the situation presenting itself if she could only grasp her physical state tighter. She was afraid for her best friend and she was anxious and excited for Christmas. She was happy and wanted to play in the snow in the morning. There were so many conflicting emotions she didn't know what to do with them all. So she took a break from being pensive and stared out the living room window at the snow while sipping her hot chocolate.

For a moment it was quiet and everything seemed like the perfect night until Mr. Mulder's car pulled up in the driveway of the house next door. Dana watched, frozen, as he wrenched the car door open, slammed it loudly, staggered to the porch, clumsily forced his key into the lock, shoved the front door open and then slammed it shut as well. He was obviously drunk. Then she remembered _'He was kind of wailing on me last night. It's alright though. He had had a couple of drinks.'_ That's what Mulder had told her on Thanksgiving. She stood and crossed to the window in one fluid motion. She leaned toward the glass, feeling the chill from the pane, and clutched her nearly empty mug as she watched Mulder's window from her hiding place.

The light flicked on. Mulder sat up and quickly stood, he had obviously not been asleep. He walked away from the tiny slice of window she could see from her angle, but his shadow was still visible. A loud booming echoed from the house. It sounded like a deep voice yelling. Then a crash as Mulder's shadow got bigger and bigger until he hit the wall and slumped down. The door slammed. The light stayed on and for a moment all Dana could do was stand there, rooted to the spot, unable to help. It was nearly midnight, two days before Christmas, and she was supposed to have been asleep by ten. She had no idea what to do. She had promised to keep his secret and she would; he trusted her. He sat up, face red and a little blood dripping from his nose, but he was alright enough. He rubbed his stomach gingerly as he stood but he grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt and disappeared beyond the window again. Seconds later he reappeared, and was pacing and looking out the window, at something.

'My room!' she thought, screaming in her own head. He looked confused and then turned toward her, he saw her face and she saw his. She waved him toward her with the hand not clutching her mug. He disappeared and the light went out. Next thing she knew he was dashing from the front door with unlaced boots and a half zipped coat, as if he had gotten dressed in a hurry. He was nearly there when the door opened and his dad was yelling loudly after him. It was then that Maggie Scully took notice and walked down the stairs.

"Dana? Sweetie? Is something going on? I kept hearing loud noises from outside." She looked concerned but not terribly worried. Though her mood quickly changed when her daughter looked up from the window into Maggie's face and she saw the fear etched into the young girl's features.

"Yeah Mom. Something's going on. Mulder's gonna stay here tonight. He shouldn't be at home right now." Maggie knew there was something going on that Dana wasn't saying but she wouldn't pry. They would tell her in time. Just then there was a frantic knocking on the door and Dana set her mug on the coffee table as she ran to open the door. "Mulder are you alright?" she asked after pulling him into the house. He pulled off his hastily put on coat and boots and walked with her into the living room.

"Yeah. I'll be alright. Oh, um, good evening Mrs. Scully." he stuttered as he noticed Maggie standing there.

"You could almost say good morning Fox. Are you alright? Are your parents fighting?" He decided to take the easy way out and give his best friend's mother the comfort of a little white lie.

"Yeah." It wasn't a complete lie. They really were fighting; that just wasn't the reason he couldn't stay at home. He was scared to death that his father would just lose it again and he wouldn't be able to take it.

"Well I trust Dana will make sure you're comfortable. Good night, get some sleep. That goes for both of you." They nodded and Maggie went off to bed. She could sense the uneasiness and she wanted Mulder to feel welcome and safe in their home. Once she was gone he flopped onto the couch.

"Mulder lift up your shirt and let me look at your stomach."

"What? How much of that did you see from the window?"

"The light turning on, you getting up, you walking out of view, you falling against the wall, you getting up again and rubbing your stomach so let me see." He nodded and pulled his shirt high enough for her to see the bruise forming on his side and abdomen. It wasn't big but it looked like it hurt. She pulled his shirt down and went to look at his face. There was no bruise but it was still red and slightly hand shaped. There was a bit of dried blood on his upper lip where his nose had bled. It definitely wasn't broken, but it had gotten hit. "He slapped you didn't he?" Mulder nodded.

"Are you going to be a doctor by any chance?"

"Yeah, I want to. Why?"

"You keep being doctor to my injuries. It's nice. Usually no one cares." He smiled weakly at her and she smiled back and patted him on the shoulder before going to get ice. She set it on top of his stomach so the cold would go through his shirt. Then she went to retrieve a pillow and blanket from the closet.

"Comfy?"

"Yeah. Thanks, you know, for taking me in. You didn't have to."

"No, but I wanted to. You're my best friend and you looked scared. I couldn't just leave you there. Get some sleep. It's late. I'll see you in the morning." He nodded and she walked toward the hall to her room but stopped when he called her.

"You know, Dana, you're gonna be a really great doctor one day. You already are. Good night."

"Good night Mulder." She walked to her room and fell into a deep sleep. He did the same on the living room couch.

It seemed like moments later the pair were waking up in their separate rooms early the next morning. It was barely 7:30 but they were wide awake. Dana opened her door tentatively and walked to the living room to find Mulder as awake as she was and sitting up on the couch. Dana sat down with him and stared out the window.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, never turning from the early morning sun coming in the window. He smiled.

"Just wondering how Bill's gonna react. I could be gone before he wakes up you know."

"No. He can deal. He probably already knows anyway. He probably heard it all last night and Mom told him to shut up. You can stay for a while. The whole day if you want. We're going out back to have a snowball fight later. Charlie practically begged after you left last night." Mulder was grinning now, he used to have snowball fights with Samantha, but he wanted to have memories that reminded him of his best friend at Christmas too.

"Sounds good, but I have nothing to wear except what I threw on before I came here."

"It's ok, Fox, dear. I'll just have Bill find you something to wear." Maggie said as she walked down the stairs, through the living room and into the kitchen.

"Um, thank you Mrs. Scully." Mulder replied as he and Dana walked into the kitchen and sat at the breakfast nook watching their French toast being made. It was then that Bill decided to make his appearance.

"Morning." he said with as little enthusiasm as possible. He didn't comment on Mulder's arrival, Dana had been right. He just stared at him for a moment.

"Bill, would you get some clothes for Fox to wear later?"

"What?! Having him here all the time is one thing! Now I have to give him my clothes too?!"

"It's alright, Mrs. Scully. I can just run home before my parents wake up and grab something."

"Are you sure Fox? I mean your father was pretty loud last night. You may not want to go over there."

"No I should be fine. Thank you Mrs. Scully."

"Well why don't you take Dana with you and then you can both come back over here. And you're welcome to stay over here tonight. It is Christmas Eve, and your parents could probably use some time to sort things out."

"Um sure, thank you. But I can go myself, Dana doesn't have to come with me. I wouldn't want my father yelling at her if he wakes up."

"No, Mulder. He won't yell much if I'm there. We should go early though, just in case. That way he won't be awake for sure."

"What is this?! Conspiracy to get Dana hurt?! The Mulders weren't fighting last night Mom! Mr. Mulder was just beating on his son is all! It's Mulder's fault for not protecting himself!"

"William Scully, Jr.! I will not have you talking like that about a guest! We talked about this last night! Now sit down and wait for your breakfast!" He silently obeyed his mother. Melissa, Charlie and Bill, Sr. slowly made their way downstairs to the table where breakfast was being served.

After the meal Dana went to get dressed while Mulder straightened out the couch and put on his socks and boots. He was waiting by the door when Dana was done. She pulled on her boots while he put on his coat. He handed her coat to her, she put it on and zipped it up and they were off. It was still early morning and it was very cold. The bright morning sun bounced off the white snow and made the whole street sparkle with hope. It. Just. Looked. Like. Christmas.

Mulder opened the front door tentatively. He didn't see or hear anyone so he went in and Dana followed. They removed their coats and as Dana went to untie her boots, he stopped her. "No. It's okay. Leave them on in case my dad wakes up. Just wipe your feet really well or my mom will get on my case." She nodded in understanding and wiped her boots on the mat. He did the same and they entered the main part of the house.

Down the hall and to the left with Mulder's room. He pulled out a small duffel bag and handed it to Dana; she held it open while he packed a couple days' worth of clothes. Once he was finished he zipped the bag, took it from Dana and reached into his closet for a big bag with gifts in it.

"Hey! No fair! You have two bags and I don't have any."

"Well you can't look in this one." he said, raising the gifts. "I'm not even sure you could carry it." He grinned and she slapped his arm playfully. "And this one is my clothes, which you shouldn't feel obligated to carry. So I'll carry them. You can get the door."

"Alright." She laughed and they made their way back to the mud room where they slipped on their coats. Mulder picked up the bags and Dana opened and shut the door. They were in and out without any problems. "Won't your parents worry about you just taking off and not leaving a note?"

"No, not really. They'll guess I'm with John or you, since I told them you invited me for Christmas. When I come back they won't ask and I won't tell. I'm not saying I like it, but it does have its perks. And it works for us." Dana just nodded absently as they walked into her house.

Sans outer wear, the two friends entered the living room where the rest of the Scully clan sat discussing plans for the day. Most of the presents were already under the tree so Dana assisted Mulder in arranging his gifts under the tree as well. He dug around for a moment or two before letting her look inside the bag. He had pulled out her present and hid it behind some larger boxes before she could clearly discern shape or size. They continued arranging gifts around the tree while occasionally joining in the discussion about activities for the day.

Eventually it was decided that a snowball fight _was _in order. Mulder, Dana, and Charlie set up a fort with a supply of snowballs at one end of the yard and Melissa and Bill set up in the other. They fought for hours. They had a blast. It ended in a tie when Mrs. Scully called them all in with the promise of hot chocolate. They were all different in the way they drank it. Bill dropped an ice cube into it and swirled it around until it was cooler, Melissa and Charlie were very picky about their mini marshmallows, and Dana and Mulder were set on whipped cream.

It was late Christmas Eve and they were all tired from their romp in the snow. Charlie had helped with milk and cookies and they were all waiting on the traditional tale of "The Night Before Christmas". Bill, Sr. sat in the center of the couch with the large book on his lap. Charlie sat directly on his right and Melissa on the left. Dana squeezed into the space between Charlie and the arm of the couch. She waved Mulder over so he could sit on the arm, forcing Bill to mimic the action on Missy's side. They just sat and listened for a while. It was a beautiful rendition, leaving them all with a happy feeling of Christmas. Mulder had to give Charlie props; the youngest stayed awake and alert through the entire story. As soon as it was over he told them all good night and warned them not to eat Santa's cookies before going off to bed.

Mulder was told that he would sleep in a sleeping bag in Charlie's room for the night, which he eagerly agreed to. He knew the other option was Bill's room, and that would just end badly. They said goodnight and the rest of the children went to bed. Mr. and Mrs. Scully pulled the Santa gifts from the closet shelf and placed them joyfully around the tree. Then they too retired for the night. About two hours later it was nearly midnight and Dana awoke to a noise in the kitchen. She slowly got out of bed and turned the knob slowly so as to make as little noise as possible.

Mulder had gotten up a few minutes before and had silently made his way into the kitchen. He wanted some water, if only as an excuse to be sitting at the kitchen counter in the middle of the night. It had all been going fine until two glasses had knocked together, causing the kitchen to resonate with the sound of nonexistent cheers-ing. He slowly returned to the task of getting a glass and filling it with ice and water when Dana had emerged from her bedroom, clad in flannel pajamas and tired eyes.

"Mulder, what are you doing up?" He spun around to look at her. She looked tired, but almost as if she hadn't yet fallen asleep.

"I could ask you the same thing." She half-smiled. She knew that he knew she had been awake the whole time, same as him.

"Just thinking until I heard you in here. Thought it was Bill for a second, getting a steak knife to stab you with." He looked at her wide eyed. "I had you."

"No, you didn't."

"Oh yeah. I had you big time."

"You had nothing." He looked down at her, she stared right back, he caved.

"Would you like a glass of water, too?" She caught his drift and nodded. They sat for a while at the breakfast nook sipping water and talking about the various thoughts keeping them awake. "It was Sam. I just kept thinking about Sam and how much she loved Christmas, but then I thought about your family and how much I'm enjoying spending Christmas with you all. I don't know what to think."

"Keep the good memories and let the bad memories stay in the past. Don't forget them, because they help you become who you are, but its ok to let bygones be bygones."

"Wise words."

"You learn quick when you leave your best friend every year." He nodded.

"What was keeping you awake?"

"I was just thinking about the future. What its going to be like. Will we be friends when we're old? What will it be like in high school? How many Christmases will you get to spend with us? I just can't wait to get started on life and everything, the two of us, best friends for life." She grinned and he did, too. Their minds finally at ease they headed off to their rooms and straight to sleep, where visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.

It was fairly early when Dana woke up. It happened every year and she blamed it on Christmas magic, something she didn't fully believe in, it was more of a psychological state in her opinion. It affected her family though, no matter how much she denied its existence. Charlie was up super early, too, and was already shoving Mulder in the shoulder. He was a light sleeper and was awake quickly, tickling the eight-year-old. Charlie really liked Mulder and they were running from the room and into the living room, almost crashing into Dana in the hall. Melissa and Bill were almost down the stairs with Maggie and Bill, Sr. close on their heels.

Once everyone was assembled in the living room, kids on the floor and parents on the couch, Charlie enlisted Mulder's help to pass out presents. Once the presents were piled in front of their recipients the unwrapping began. Each method of unwrapping was as unique as the person. Bill was very neat as he slid his finger under each piece of tape. Bill, Sr. was nearly the same in his style, but Maggie just casually tore into the paper. Charlie was the typical kid and ripped open his packages, squealing loudly at the contents. Melissa ripped them open almost the same as her mother, but with a little more enthusiasm. Dana had a sort of controlled energy while Mulder tore through the paper, almost like Charlie.

They were all happy with their various gifts and thanked each other multiple times, but Dana and Mulder had been holding out on one another. Once Maggie and Melissa had retreated to the kitchen to cook dinner and both Bills had taken Charlie outside to improve his snow fort, the best friends were left with the task of cleaning up the living room. They took a moment, before beginning their work, to give each other their Christmas presents. Mulder opened his first. It was neatly wrapped in gold and white snowflake paper with a gold ribbon. It was obvious she had taken the time to wrap it herself.

This time Mulder was careful in opening it but was confused by the three disposable cameras in the first package. He set them aside and opened the second part of his gift. The beautiful leather bound photo album greeted him and he couldn't help but run his hands over it and smile. He opened it and flicked the pages from back to front when the first picture caught his eye. It was on the Scully family and was captioned '_The start of a beautiful friendship.'_ He looked up at her smiling face and pulled his best friend into the best bear hug he could manage with the bruise across his abdomen. When he let her go he handed her the rectangular gift next to him, knowing it was perfect.

The gift was wrapped in blue paper with snowmen and it was neater than Dana expected. "I got the lady at the gift wrapping station to teach me." Mulder said matter-of-factly when he noticed her staring down at the package. She took as much care as he had in opening the present and was equally at awe when she saw the soft leather cover of a journal with a rose embossed on the front. She opened the creamy, thick pages and read the three quotes he had written on the inside cover:

_Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game._

"_and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" Robert Frost_

_A good friend will come bail you out of jail. A best friend will be sitting next to you in the cell saying, "Damn! That was fun!" And somehow I think you would figure out how to do both._

The last part made her laugh and she looked up at him, eyes shining. She hugged him around the neck and after a moment he pulled away and looked her straight in the face.

"Now Dana, this journal is important." She nodded for him to continue. "Only write in it when we're far apart or if the you want to tell me something but you can't. Other than that you can tell me anything and everything. I'm always here." She nodded with a smile as they sat cross legged across for each other on the living room floor.

"Mulder. Your present is special too. You have to take pictures of really happy times so that when things fall apart or I'm not around you can remember the good times." He smiled before wadding up a piece of wrapping paper and throwing it at her. She ducked and it landed on the floor behind her and before he knew it she had wadded up her own ammunition and had hit him square on the forehead. With their new game, they played wrapping paper basketball into the trash bag until the living room was spic and span.

The two raced with their clothes trying to beat the other to the bathroom. Somehow Dana won and she wondered if it was because Mulder had let her. Once she was dressed in her snow clothes Mulder went in and came back looking ready as ever to grab his coat and boots and play in the snow. Melissa, who had left the kitchen, and Bill, Jr. were building their new fort and Bill, Sr. was helping Charlie make more snowballs for their already built and reinforced fort. Mulder and Dana rushed to their fort and began the task of widening and heightening it. Once that was finished Dana they packed the exterior walls even tighter and began to make snowball piles on the interior of their fortress.

"Sam and I used to have snowball fights." Mulder remarked as he set down his last snowball. "I always let her win." Dana set down her snowball and looked up at him

"So this time we'll win. Beating them will be tough, but I'm up for the challenge. How about you?" He grinned.

"I'm in!" He stuck out his hand and she shook it firmly. At this action Bill jumped up, screaming his battle cry. His first snowball hit Dana in the back and he recalculated but missed when he only clipped Mulder in the shoulder as he moved Dana to the other side and they split the tasks. Mulder and Bill predominantly aiming at each other, Melissa and Charlie were also paired off while Ahab took aim at his Starbuck.

They went on for a while occasionally ducking down to make more snowballs; a feat most easily accomplished by Dana and Charlie, seeing as they were the smallest. After coming back up from a snowball run, Dana noticed that Melissa was making an awfully large target of herself. One well placed snowball sent her older sister ducking for cover. For the next few minutes Mulder and Dana formed a silent and temporary alliance with Charlie and Bill, Sr. to take out Melissa and Bill, Jr., which was accomplished fairly quickly after that.

With Melissa and Bill watching from the sidelines with hot chocolate, the two remaining teams were at all out war with each other. Melissa cheered for everyone while Bill scowled over his mug in Mulder's general direction. They kept on for quite some time when Charlie and his father could no longer keep up with Dana and Mulder's snowball production. They surrendered and the winners cheered and high-fived each other.

"See Mulder! I told you we could win!" Mulder just grinned as she began to walk back to the house. He picked up one of the more loosely packed snowballs and threw it, nailing her in the back. It wasn't hard, not even close, but she still spun back to glare at him, the amusement in her eyes unsuccessfully masked. The corners of her mouth tugged into a mischievous smile and before he could register her actions she had hit him with a snowball of her own. For the next five minutes or so the pair chased each other around the yard throwing loose clumps of snow, much to the amusement of everyone but Bill who was less than annoyed but not happy.

"Come on in out of the cold and have some hot chocolate!" Maggie called from the back door, ending the antics. Dana and Mulder were laughing as they made their way to the backdoor, pausing briefly to remove their snow-covered coats and boots upon entering. The family sat at the breakfast nook drinking their hot chocolate and warming up.

Soon after, they all sat around the fireplace and the Christmas tree, sipping the remains of their hot chocolate, enjoying their presents, and talking. Dana and Mulder sat next to each other on the floor, backs against the couch. She looked over at him and then back out the window and realized how nice it felt to have someone there. She truly realized for the first time how much she cared for Mulder, maybe even liked him. Little did she know that he was doing the same thing next to her. The whole family just sat there for a while longer, enjoying the feel of Christmas.

It was around 9-o-clock and Mulder knew he had to be going home. He got up and shook Bill, Sr.'s hand, hugged Maggie, Melissa, and Charlie, and nodded politely to Bill, Jr. He gathered up the gifts he had received and walked with Dana toward the front door. She would never really hug him in front of her brother, for fear that he would slug Mulder in the face. Standing in the mud room she wrapped her arms around his middle and he wrapped his around her shoulders.

"Merry Christmas Dana." They let go and pulled back, allowing Mulder to pull on his boots and slip on his coat. He bent down and picked up his bag. When he straightened he looked her in the eye. "Thank you for having me here. It's been…perfect." She smiled, happy that she could do something nice for her best friend.

"You're welcome. And Merry Christmas to you too, Mulder." He smiled and nodded and went to the door. He opened it, letting the cold air swirl into the tiny entry room. She took a few steps forward and laid her hand on his arm, causing him to turn to look at her. "Please be careful." He nodded. "And if something happens, I'm here. Just promise me you'll be careful. Remember it's not your fault, it's his." He nodded and used his free arm to hug her, before smiling lightly and walking out the door toward his house. Dana walked back into her living room. She looked out the window and watched her best friend tentatively enter his home. His bedroom light turned on and the house was quiet. She silently sighed in relief. It was a good Christmas.

**Wow. Um, yeah. This is really long. I was originally going to have separate chapters for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but it didn't work out that way. I just didn't like any of the places to end it. So I just kept going. So this is really long but it covers everything. The next one will cover camp and some other stuff and will include Doggett and Reyes. I don't know as much about them so if it's a little OOC I'm sorry. There won't be as much of them in there and soon we will meet the LGM. Yay! Thanks for reading and review or suggest stuff if you'd like. **


	5. A Nice Little Trip to the Forest, Really

**Lucky me, I was sick last week and I was finally starting to feel better so I decided to write. I wasn't even on my computer for a day or two, which is shocking even to me. My mom and I suspect that reading is giving me migraines so I had to cut down on the typing and stuff until my reading glasses came in, but they're here now so no more worries. And I'm sorry for the wait. Life go tin the way as it always does.**

**Anyways, enough about me. This part of the story is about the camping trip they take with their school which I'm basing on an actual thing that went on at my school, though I've changed the setting because I don't think mountains from California have any reason to be in Maryland.**

_**Chapter 5: A Nice Little Trip to the Forest…Really!**_

Dana went to bed around 9:30, but she wasn't ready to go to sleep. Instead she felt the overwhelming need to write in the new journal Mulder had given her. There was something she needed to talk about and she was definitely not going to talk to him about it and she wasn't quite ready to tell her sister. So she would tell her surrogate Mulder: the journal. She pulled it out of her desk drawer and sat on her bed with her back against the headboard. She flipped through the pages and noticed something she hadn't the first time she looked at it. There were four more quotes on the inside back cover of the leather book.

_Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend._

_~Unknown_

_Faith is, at one and the same time, absolutely necessary and altogether impossible._

_~Stanislaw Lem_

_It's the friends you can call up at four a.m. that matter._

_~Marlene Dietrich_

_The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed._

_~Carl Jung_

Dana smiled down at the page and the simple and important quotes written in the now familiar scrawl. Remembering why she had taken out the journal in the first place, she picked up a pen and flipped back to the front. She wrote. She wrote everything she had been to afraid to think about in the living room. Everything she felt, she wanted to get it all out so it would no longer threaten the life it belonged to. Melissa and Bill always seemed to know what she was thinking anyways and she wasn't sure she wanted anyone to know, but she had to figure it out so she wrote. When she was finished, as if on cue, Melissa knocked on her door. The knock was distinct. Soft but commanding, friendly, and trustworthy.

"Come on in, Missy." Her older sister opened the door. She was fourteen and a freshman in high school, something that was still mysterious to the seventh-grader.

"Hey Danes. Wanted to talk to you." _'Oh great! Here it comes!'_ Dana couldn't help thinking. "Its about Mulder." Dana nodded, her suspicions confirmed. "He really is the best friend you've ever had isn't he?" Dana looked up from her knees, which she had momentarily become very interested in. She nodded.

"Yeah, he is. He's my best friend and I'm his." Missy nodded and continued.

"I know Bill hates him, but let's ignore that for a second." She paused. "You like him, don't you?" Dana's head shot back up, wide eyed.

"What?" Melissa shook her head.

"That wasn't a question actually. It was more of a statement. It's pretty obvious that he likes you, too. But I wouldn't risk a friendship until you're sure it isn't a stupid little crush." Dana had recovered, taken her sister's advice and logged it away, then looked at her sister and smiled.

"I'll keep that in mind. But I don't remember ever telling you that you were right, or asking for help." The two girls smiled and Melissa chuckled a bit as she left, sticking her head back through the crack of the door before closing it.

"But I am right." The door closed, her grin seeming to be the last thing to disappear, much like the Cheshire cat. Dana got up and slipped the journal into her desk drawer, when she saw Mulder sitting at his window looking for her, she sat down and looked back. Her face and eyes questioned him, asking if he was alright. He smiled reassuringly, but then looked slightly downcast. Confused even. Dana questioned him again, this time asking what was wrong. He couldn't figure out the best way to convey it without anyone in the upstairs of her house being able to tell exactly what he was telling her. So he grabbed a notepad and wrote on it, then held it up, just out of view from above.

"I smelled cigarettes when I came in. No one in my house smokes. And my dad hasn't been home in two days. I think my parents are going to get divorced."

"I'm so sorry Mulder." Her eyes really showed it, until his door opened and his mother walked in. He waved her a quick and nearly imperceptible goodbye as he turned to greet his mother who said a few short things that Dana couldn't understand but Mulder nodded to before she left the room. Then he looked to her across the space between their windows, with an expression that confirmed that something was not going well between his parents.

The rest of their winter vacation, however, passed with a relative amount of normalcy. Mulder had not smelt the cigarette smoke again and his dad had started coming home again. Before they knew it they were back at school and everything was normal. It felt like they had only blinked their eyes and it was March and the Friday before their camping trip.

At school that day their first period math teacher was out sick and they had a substitute who insisted on calling everyone by their last names. It wasn't really a problem for Mulder, who actually preferred it that way. But Dana wasn't used to being called Scully. Anyone looking for Scully was usually an older Navy man who was looking for her father. On top of that, the man said Scully in such a way that Mulder, at one point, had to actually bite his lower lip to keep from laughing. Afterwards he took to mimicking the very old sub by calling her Scully in that weird way, just make her glare at him or laugh at him or raise her eyebrow at him. Every time she did he would burst out in laughter again, and it just became infectious. Their new inside joke. He still called her Dana in normal conversation, but when he really wanted to get a smile he would turn on the funny accent and call her Scully.

Dana was packing, a bit frantically though due to the fact that she only had two days left. She had just finished zipping up her suitcase when she looked over at Mulder's window. It was open and he was gesturing for her to do the same. She opened her window and got as close to it as she could with the desk in her way.

"Did you pack bug spray?" She chuckled at him and nodded.

"Yes Mulder. I'll share." He grinned.

"Thanks, _Scully._" She grinned and shook her head in mock exasperation. He laughed. Everything was good. They shut their respective windows and went back to work. The weekend was pretty boring. A lot of Bill being annoyed that she was going off for a week with a bunch of people he didn't know and trusted about as far as he could throw them. Dana didn't really care all that much what he thought, but he had taken over as man of the house when Bill, Sr. had been shipped out only six weeks prior. He had felt it was his job to make sure a birthday celebration had been arranged for her the previous month. He had tried to keep Mulder from being invited but Dana had gone over his head and behind his back and gotten her friend to come anyways.

Soon it was Monday morning and Mulder was jogging over to the Scullys' front door with his suitcase and sleeping bag. He set the sleeping bag on the stoop and rang the doorbell. Charlie answered the door and let him in. It wasn't terribly cold for late March so he only had a warm jacket on, instead of the heavy coat he had needed every once in a while during the past few years, for the same time. He hung it on the rack in the mud room quickly and deposited his camping supplies next to the door with Dana's. He walked up to the breakfast nook and hopped onto an empty stool next to his best friend. They didn't need to be at school until nine so they would drop off Bill and Melissa first, then Charlie and then Maggie would stay to see them off.

"Morning Mulder. You're here early."

"I just couldn't wait." She laughed and continued to eat her toast. She pretended not to notice when he snuck a piece but her amused smile gave her away. "Did you put the tag on your luggage?"

"Yup. It's pink. I guess they're using the tags to tell which is boys and which is girls." He nodded as he continued to munch on her toast. Finally the time came for them to leave. Mulder had volunteered himself to put the luggage in the car. When Dana had brought hers out she was intent upon helping but he managed to wave her away and put it all in the trunk very nicely. Getting into the car was a different problem all together. Maggie drove, of course, Melissa sat in the middle of the front bench seat, and Bill took the window. The original idea was to have Charlie take the middle in the back, him being the smallest, but he didn't want to. He wanted a window seat. Once he was buckled in and not about to move, Dana was forced to sit in the middle and Mulder beside her. It wasn't a difficult feat, as she was not much larger than her brother, but it would have definitely been easier if he had conformed to the original plan.

The problem that they soon noticed was that neither Mulder, nor Dana had gotten much sleep because they were much too excited. The car ride was longer than it usually was and it lulled them into a soft slumber. Her head on his shoulder and his on her head, a comfortable arrangement considering their height difference. Luckily Bill didn't see it until he was already out of the car and Maggie had started pulling away. This gave them at least another fifteen minutes of sleep.

By the time they pulled up to their school the pair was stretching and rubbing their eyes. Dana's barely shoulder length, straight hair was falling in front of her face as she moved to pop her vertebrae back into less stiff positions. Mulder had finished stretching and tucked the last errant lock behind her ear as she settled back into the seat, rested and comfortable at last.

Dana and Mulder hopped out of the car and opened the trunk to get their gear. Mulder grabbed both suitcases and Dana grabbed the sleeping bags. It was another good arrangement for them. They walked into the cafeteria to check in, then they went to find Monica and John. Monica bit back a small chuckle, replacing it with a friendly smile. She couldn't help thinking how much the two friends before her looked like a couple. Both were troubled beyond their years and helped each other through their troubles in their own ways. That, and they just fit together, like pieces of a puzzle.

"Hey guys!" Dana greeted as she walked up with a smile, failing to notice Monica's near slip.

"Good morning." Monica answered sweetly. She opened her mouth to continue but was cut off by the teacher.

"Good Morning Everyone!" she shouted over the din of the students. "Will you all please be seated!" Dana and Mulder squeezed into the remaining space on the bench. The teacher then began her instructions as to how the transportation would go. Which bus would contain which luggage and where they would be allowed to sit. Bus #1 would contain the girls' luggage, and #2 would contain the boys' luggage, but they were allowed to sit with whoever they wanted to since the ride was pretty long. After a fairly long-winded and pointless speech about bus etiquette the students were sent to put their luggage away.

"Bus one or two?" John asked the girls as they stood up and made their way outside.

"One." they replied in unison. Both boys nodded and went off to bus #2 to stow their luggage. Monica and Dana stayed at bus #1 and stowed their own luggage. Dana backed away from the bus into Mulder's sightline as he waited in like to get to the storage where his suitcase would be held. She tipped her head slightly toward the large yellow vehicle behind her, silently telling him that they would save seats. He nodded and turned his attention back to the line in front of him. Monica and Dana had finished with their bags and had gotten on the bus. They took seats in the back row, Dana taking the two on the passenger's side and Monica taking the two opposite her..

People filtered into the bus but it was obviously taking John and Mulder much longer to get their things loaded, as the bus was nearly full when they stepped onto it. They looked around confused until Monica stood up and waved quickly to them. They walked to the back of the bus.

"Thanks." John said as he slid over Monica, taking the window seat she offered. She never liked the window seat. Mulder nodded his agreement and slid onto the bench with Dana, letting her have the window seat, knowing she liked it better. They had had a long talk about bus rides and seat preference while waiting for Maggie to pick them up the past few days. The last person climbed the stairs and walked toward the back of the bus where a blonde girl saved a seat. She was tall and brunette, and little too sure of herself. She noticed Mulder sitting in the back and perked up, waving and smiling at him.

"Hi Mulder!" the girl said loudly, as if claiming him. He barely nodded in response and turned back to Dana, quickly beginning a conversation. The girl huffed and sat down next to her friend, determined to remain unhappy.

"Who was that?" Dana asked her friend.

"Someone I don't want to talk to, or about for that matter." Mulder answered. Dana looked across him to her other friends, who seemed to get the message.

"Diana Fowley. She's liked Mulder forever. He liked her too for a while, but she's, um, evil, to put it nicely." Monica answered. John scoffed loudly at his girlfriends final comment.

"That's like saying Satan isn't such a bad guy. You're being really nice, Monica." They chuckled and Dana seemed to catch the drift of what they wanted to say and decided to leave well enough alone. Soon the bus was ready to leave and Mulder helped Dana pull down the window so they could wave goodbye to her mom. Maggie craned her head and arm over as many other parents as she could. She waved and blew a few kisses their way. They smiled an craned out the window to wave back. Dana and Maggie reached their hands toward each other and grasped firmly for a moment as Mrs. Scully quickly told her daughter to have fun and be careful. Then she let go and reached her hand toward Mulder, whose longer arms made it much easier on both of them. She told him to take care, have fun, and to take care of Dana. He smiled kindly and nodded vigorously at her last request. She laughed and let go, waving one last goodbye as the bus left.

Once on the road they put the window back up and sat back talking for what felt like forever. It was really only an hour or so before the lack of proper sleep due to excitement had begun to affect them again. Dana lazily yawned and put her head down on Mulder's warm shoulder. He then laid his head on hers and promptly fell asleep. Of course Diana chose this moment to look back, the two of them comfortable, asleep, and reflexively smiling. She huffed again and turned back around. Monica and John were having too much fun collecting bets on how long it would take their two friends to get together.

A while later the pair was waking up as the bus began its ascent up the mountain and to the camp. They watched the beautiful scenery unfold, pointing out little things to each other, truly enjoying the ride. It seemed only minutes later on that majestic mountainside that they were coming to a graceful stop in front of the camp's central building. The students were directed off the bus and into the main hall of that large log cabin. Older high school students serving as chaperones and voluntary help for the week were beginning to unload the luggage and put it on one or the other of two large trucks. Once this was completed the juniors and seniors climbed into the beds of those trucks on top of the luggage and braced themselves as the vehicles took off up the steep hill.

The campers watched for a moment from the large open room where they were seated on the floor before turning back to their instructors and listening to the layout of their week. Then they were put into cabins. Dana and Monica were very happy to be put together, as were Mulder and John. The girls had cabin 2 and the boys were in cabin 12. There was another school there as well but they wouldn't be doing any activities with them. Not long after the high schoolers returned from luggage duty and were introduced to them. Jessica would be in the girls' cabin and Freddy would be in the boys' cabin. The many cabin leaders took the middle school kids up to their cabins to get their things arranged. Once this was done they all went back down the hill to be paired off with another cabin and their trail guides. Cabins 1 and 11 were paired, 2 and 12, and 3 and 13. The other cabins housed students from another school. The four friends were very happy to be in the same trail group.

That day they had dinner in the mess hall and a big campfire with the rest of their school and got to mail postcards home.

"Aren't you going to send a postcard Mulder?" Dana asked quietly as she sat next to him around the campfire. He shook his head slightly and gave her a look.

"Who at home would want a postcard from me?" he replied as if it were obvious.

"My mom would like one, I'm sure." she responded, smiling. He leaned over and pushed her slightly with his shoulder, she pushed him back and he smiled. He decided he would write a postcard to Mrs. Scully, she did like him after all. They toasted marshmallows and watched funny skits and listened to jokes until it was nearly time for lights out. The students walked back up to their cabins with their leaders and promptly fell asleep. They awoke the next morning and headed down to the mess hall for breakfast. Mulder, in particular, attacked his pancakes, much to Dana's amusement.

"Good pancakes, Mulder?" she asked. He looked up at her, mouth stuffed with the syrupy goodness. She couldn't suppress her giggle; he looked adorably amusing. He looked even more so when he nodded vigorously in the affirmative. He chewed a few times and swallowed hard before responding.

"It's been a while since I've had breakfast, let alone good breakfast." She looked at him sympathetically, recalling a conversation they had had one morning at school about his mother's lack of desire to cook anymore with all their family troubles.

"Then come over to my house in the morning for breakfast. I'll make Bill behave." she smiled and he nodded with a slight smile gracing his features. They finished the rest of their breakfast without any more stunning revelations and got up with the rest of the camp to go out to meet their trail guides. As they walked out the door Mulder hugged Dana with one arm and whispered a quick 'thank you' in her ear before letting go and continuing on.

Their trail guide's name was Rick and he was tall with dark curly hair. He wore cargo pants and a long sleeved flannel shirt with a vest. Most of the girls in the group looked at him like he was a Greek god, the boys, like he was a superhero. Mulder liked him well enough and John a bit more. Monica thought he was cute, in a middle school crush on a celebrity sort of way. Dana acknowledged that he was good looking but didn't care much past that.

In no time they had gone over the info on their hike and were walking through the forest, dodging tree roots and stepping over rocks. It was about noon when they arrived at the side of a small river or a large stream. Rick stopped the group and asked them to gather around.

"See this is poison-ivy, here. If you see any plants that look like this, don't touch it." The group nodded and looked intently at the plant to make sure they wouldn't touch any of it. Rick pointed across the stream at a small clearing surrounded by rocks and large tree roots that would make a decent seating area. "We're going to eat there, so let's get across the stream." he said, gesturing at the stones dotting across one of the fairly narrow portions, thought it was still a good ten or fifteen feet in width.

Rick crossed first, followed by a fair amount of the boys, wanting to show off their ability. So far no one had fallen in. This continued as the majority of the girls crossed. Monica stepped ahead of John and he hopped along, one stone behind her. Mulder bowed dramatically and extended his arm in the direction of the stream. Dana laughed at his over-exaggerated chivalry and stepped toward the edge. It was a pretty long step to the first stone. It wasn't hard for the taller students in the group but she was by no means tall. To be honest, she was short. Standing on her left foot, she reached toward the stone with her right. She started to fall forward into the water, not into John's legs as he was already a stone or so ahead, keeping up with Monica. Suddenly a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her securely onto the shore.

"Thanks Mulder." she said, not needing to turn around to know who had saved her from the chilly water.

"Hop up." he said, bending at the knees and offering a piggyback ride. His legs were much longer and he would be able to cross without the problems that she would have. She placed one foot in his hand and her arms around his neck, using her own weight and his boost to pull herself onto his back. He locked his arms under her bent knees and she interlocked her ankles in front of him. This took only a few moments and with a swift step he landed them both safely on the first stone, then the second, and then each other stone in turn. When he landed them safely on the shore, he did not let her go. He jogged over to the group listening to her giggle from his back. He set her atop a tallish boulder that was close to her current height. She let go of his neck and waist and sat on the boulder, swinging her feet back and forth like a small child.

John and Monica sat on a rock near her and Mulder went over to Rick to get their lunch bags. When he returned he climbed up a bulging tree root to sit on the boulder with Dana. He passed her a brown sack lunch containing a turkey sandwich, an apple, a juice box, and a chocolate chip cookie. They all pulled out their food and dug in eagerly. It didn't take long for the four friends to finish their lunches and they still had about ten minutes to rest before they had to hike off again. Mulder nudged Dana in the shoulder and she nudged him back, begging the question of what he wanted.

"Having fun?"

"Oh, yeah!" she replied sarcastically. "I just love being too short to cross a stream without help." He placed his hand over his chest in mock hurt.

"Are you saying that you didn't enjoy being carried all the way over here?" He attempted deadpan but by the end of his question he was laughing and so was she, shaking her head in amusement. "No really, are you having fun?" She nodded vigorously, smiling.

"Yeah, I love it here. I'm having loads of fun." He grinned.

"I'm glad." After a smile shared between the four, Rick stood up and beckoned them cryptically to the trail. They cleaned up quickly and headed off after him. Everyone, that is, except Dana. She was looking around to find a quick and fairly safe way off the boulder. Mulder turned around to look for her and couldn't suppress his laughter at her predicament. He didn't often think of how short his best friend was, he viewed her as an equal. Noticing her difficulties he walked back toward her and offered his hand to her. She shook her head.

"I'll fall. It's too far down." She looked down. Mulder had had to lift her higher to get her onto the stone, but even the way Mulder had gotten up was too high for her. He took a lot more risks.

"Come here, I'll help you down." He backed up to her resting place and she leaned down slowly on to his back. Once her arms were around his neck and she was secure, he stepped forward and then squatted so she could get off. Once Dana was on solid ground the two of them jogged to catch up with the group and continue on their hike.

"Thanks for saving me from my case of terminal shortness, Mulder." She looked up at him with a sarcastic smile. It seemed to bother her more than he had originally noticed. "How come you didn't notice I wouldn't be able to get down by myself?" He looked off into the trees for a moment, wondering how to phrase the truth so it would sound right.

"I don't usually notice your height." She raised her eyebrow quizzically. "I see you as an equal." That was all there was to say, so nothing more was said. They continued on the trail for the rest of their day, though Dana wore a small smile on her face.

Once they arrived back at the camp they retreated to their cabins for the afternoon shower cycle. Half of the cabin was allowed to shower then and the other half were allowed showers after dinner. Dana and Monica were in the afternoon set, as were Mulder and John. After showers there was some down time out in the courtyard area in the middle of all the cabins. The four friends sat on a bench on the lower end of the area, just talking about the day's events.

Dinner was pleasant and so was the down time in the cabin before lights out. They all slept peacefully that night. No fear. No yelling. No midnight doctoring. No waiting and hoping not to hear the car door slam, it's owner tainted with alcohol. It was a good night, a night they deserved.

**I am, once again, very sorry about the slow update. The next one may take some time as well, but it should finish up the camping trip. It's just that there are a few other fics I have been ignoring, a huge chem test, a psych test, and English make up work I need to do before my glorious four day weekend. During that time I can almost guarantee an update. Ta-ta for now.**


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